


Road Trip!

by WarlordChinatsu



Category: Kagerou Project, Mekakucity Actors
Genre: F/M, Humor, Romance, Vacation
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-02
Updated: 2016-12-27
Packaged: 2018-04-12 15:05:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 22,292
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4483943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WarlordChinatsu/pseuds/WarlordChinatsu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Mekakushi Dan decides to go on a long road trip together!</p><p>(Cross-posted on FF.net)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Sanity Stealing Beginning

The girl sighed, her socked feet resting on the dashboard of the car and one earphone in. Around her, the members of the Dan chattered obnoxiously and fought over what the radio should be set to. She returned her fallen ear bud to its place and reaching into her jacket pocket, she turned the volume up so she could barely hear the idiocy occurring outside of her little world. She glared out the window and watched the flat expanses of farms whirr past, occasionally spotting a herd of livestock. She sighed again; this was definitely not how she'd expected her vacation to be spent. Closing her eyes, she felt an almost urgent tap on her shoulder. Silently groaning, she turned to the driver and spoke with an abundance of annoyance in her voice.

"What, Kano?" He used his free hand to motion for her to remove her headphones and she reluctantly did, hoping he had something at least partially intelligent to say. "Fine," she grumbled, "my headphones are out now. What did you need?" He grinned at the road ahead and changed lanes.

"Ah, well you see, Kido…" He glanced at her, and chuckled slightly nervously as he noted her glare. "I thought you might like to help us decide what to listen to!" Rolling her eyes and pulling her feet from the dash, she turned slightly in her seat to see the others. The first row consisted of Seto, Marry, and Momo respectively; the second row was Shintaro, a sleeping Konoha, and Hibiya. Momo grabbed the back of Kido's seat and pulled herself close to the Danchou.

"Danchouuuu," she whined, "Marry and I wanna listen to the radio!" Kido sighed and looked to Seto, who shrugged like he didn't care. Her eyes quickly scanned over the back row, figuring the three of them weren't paying attention and couldn't care less what was put on.

"Alright, Kisaragi." The green haired girl turned back around and clicked on the radio, causing some awful pop song to blast. She cranked the volume down and glared at Kano, "How loud did you turn it?!" He laughed and shrugged her question off.

"I was just trying to make sure that everyone could hear it," his eyes flickered off of the road for a brief moment and it was obvious in the moment that they were shining an unnatural red. She huffed and sat back in her seat, watching him carefully. As the song on the radio changed, Momo burst into song and Hibiya groaned loudly to get on her nerves; the idol swung her head around and began chewing him out though he didn't seem to care. Kido took her eyes off of her partner for a few seconds and as she looked back, his mask had been replaced with a tired, worn-out Kano. He was still attentive, but the bags under his eyes irritated her. His eyes flicked to her and in an instant, the façade had returned. She sighed and leaned her head back against the headrest, watching to signs for the next exit they could pull off onto.

"Oi, Kano," she began, "take this next exit." She could see the fake smile twist slightly into confusion and before he could question her, she spoke again, "Just do it. You need some rest." It was his turn to sigh this time and his eyes returned to their normal, beautiful golden color.

"I'm fine," he tried to state, "I just look tired, I'm not actually." She mentally commented on how false that statement was but didn't let the remark slip from her mouth. Despite what he had said, he still pulled off at the requested exit and found a spot where they could stretch their legs and switch drivers. There was a small patch of wild flowers clustered near their stopping point and as everyone disembarked the van, Marry and Momo preceded to run to it and gather the weeds to make flower crowns. Hibiya had to crawl over the seats to get out, and Shintaro stayed where he was, swearing that he didn't need to stretch his legs.

Kido walked around the front of the vehicle, preparing to drive the next leg of this ridiculous journey. Kano offered to help her get everything positioned for her but she denied, pushing him towards the passenger's side and ordering him to sleep. He laughed genuinely and did as he was told, letting her gather the group back up and boarding them once again. As soon as everyone was in, she started the engine and heading back out onto the freeway, enduring the horrid music that members four and five had requested.

It was a long while before they saw another exit of any kind and as the sign became visible, Kido took a check to make sure no one needed to stop for the bathroom. It wasn't barely a mile or two down the road that a voice piped up from the back.

"Hey, Danchou…" the young boy called up at her, "I have to pee really badly…" She sighed and tried not come off as angry when she spoke again.

"Why didn't you say that when there was an exit to take?" She could hear him fidget, probably trying to hold it in.

"I didn't need to go then…"

"How long can you wait," she asked, genuinely concerned that he might wet himself in the car, and checked the signs. "It'll be a while until the next rest area…" He whimpered slightly, causing Momo to laugh at him.

"It's not funny, Obasan!" he yelled defensively, and then turned his attention back to his blatter, "How long is a while?"

"Probably close to half an hour…" She wished she could've said that it would've been twenty minutes, even better, ten. A chuckle escaped the person next to her and she glanced at him, his face was bunched up, trying very hard not to laugh. She rolled her eyes and waited for some sort of reply from Hibiya. His voice was quiet and strained when he spoke again.

"I don't know…" The one answer she had hoped he wouldn't give. She chewed silently on her bottom lip, thinking the best way to get him somewhere to relieve himself. Kido didn't notice as her cat-eyed passenger, leaned forward, grabbing an empty bottle and tossed it back to Hibiya.

"There, that should work, right?" Again, the sound of his laughter filled the car, it was an irresistibly drawing sound and Kido found it hard not to glance at him again. Hibiya cried out, very confused as to what he was supposed to do with an empty soda bottle. Kano turned back around and watched Kido with a false grin. She could feel him watching but she didn't turn, her cheeks heating up a little. Soon, a small turnoff came into view and she pulled over.

"Hey, can you go in the trees over there?" she asked the question awkwardly and chose her words carefully. A seatbelt clicked undone and Hibiya jumped up, before realizing he was trapped where he was. He attempted to push Konoha's legs out of his path but failed and instead woke the android boy up.

"What are you doing, Hibiya?" his voice was quiet and calm as it normally was.

"I need to get out!" The elementary boy (yelled), irritated. Konoha nodded, not truly understanding but moved his legs and Hibiya bolted out. Kido grimaced at the thought of Hibiya going alone but couldn't personally do it. She turned and looked at the boys.

"One of you needs to make sure he's alright… we don't wanna loose anyone this early on…" Shintaro's look of disinterest immediately marked him off the list and Marry was clinging too tightly to Seto for him to even volunteer. Konoha raised his hand and spoke again.

"I can make sure he doesn't disappear." With that, he crawled his way out of the van and wandered to the boy, standing a ways off to give him some privacy.

Kido leaned back and closed her eyes for a moment, she was going to need to keep as much of her sanity as possible for the rest of the trip. Seto leaned slightly forward, being sure not to disturb Marry and whispered to Kido.

"Are you gonna be okay, Kido?" He was genuinely concerned, as he always was, and his face showed it. "I can drive so you can both rest if you need…"

"I'm fine, Seto… but thanks…" She smiled at him, "I rested while Kano drove…" As she finished her thought, Hibiya shot into the van with a terrified expression. Momo started to laugh before sobering, noticing he was serious.

"Eh? What happened?" Momo watched as he took his seat, shaking slightly. Her question was soon answered as Konoha returned as well, holding multiple small animal bodies.

"Wh-What're…" Seto began but was interrupted as one of the black furballs perked up and meowed loudly, getting the attention of everyone but Shintaro.

Momo instantly understood Hibiya's fear and turned to Konoha.

"Those are such cute kittens, Konoha…" she complimented, receiving a nod and a smile from the white haired android boy, "but you know… Hibiya doesn't really like cats… a-and the mom cat might be sad if she comes back and her babies are gone…" She smiled sweetly to make him realize that she wasn't trying to be mean. A mixture of sadness and confusion crossed his face but he nodded again.

"Okay, I'll go put them back then…" He then proceeded to wander back to the trees and release the kittens back into the brush. He made his way back, being trailed by his new friends but at the door to the van, he turned and looked at them. "You have to go back to your mom… I'm sorry…" The answer he received to this statement was a chorus of mews. As he stepped in, the herd turned and raced away, seeming to understand that their new friend was leaving. He resumed his position between the boys in the back and quickly fell back asleep as though nothing happened. Hibiya quietly looked up at Momo and whispered thanks.

"Thanks, Obasan…" She grinned and turned back to the front, letting him off the hook for calling her that for once.


	2. Checking into a long night

Kano yawned loudly, stretching his arms high above his head. The Dan was starting to slow down and most of the passengers had fallen asleep, including Shintaro, Momo, Marry, and Seto. All was going just fine until the music suddenly stopped and was replaced by a shrill screech. Kido flinched and glared at the dash, knowing exactly what was happening.

"Master's so boring when he's asleeeeep!" The voice whined loudly; she seemed to have turned the volume up as well. Kano grinned, sitting forward.

"Aaah," he began, "I was wondering when we would hear from you, Ene-chan." A giggle erupted from the speakers and woke most of those asleep. Momo yawned and stretched, accidentally hitting the barely awake Hibiya behind her. He grumbled but said nothing as she turned and apologized. Marry looked up at Seto, confusion scribed on her face and rubbed her eyes, attempting to swipe away the sleep that lingered. Ene, noticing that everyone—excluding Shintaro who was fairly used to the screaming by now—was awake, called out in a cheerful voice.

"Gooooood morning!" The small DVD player housed in the roof of the car swung down and the blue haired virus sprung up onto the screen. Seto smiled, hiding his annoyance well, and spoke calmly.

"Good morning, Ene," he answered her, "but… it isn't morning anymore." She puffed out her cheeks and shrugged, replying with an 'oh well'. Konoha looked at the screen and smiled slightly, making the cyber girl blush.

"Hello, Ene-chan…" he greeted, "I haven't seen you in a while…" Although his sentiment was sincere, she couldn't help but feel it wasn't the same as her beloved classmate's salutation. He pulled his stuffed triceratops from beside him and held it in his arms, petting it as though it were a living animal. The love he showed to that stuffed animal had a tendency to make Ene slightly jealous and was one of the many reasons she stayed away from the "poser." He opened his mouth to say something else to her but quickly forgot what it was and turned to Hibiya.

"Where are the snacks?" he asked innocently, blinking his pale rose colored eyes at the brown haired elementary school student. Hibiya grunted and passed him the plastic sack which held most of the food, knowing he would probably regret it later. The white haired android dug quietly into the bag and began pulling things out left and right, downing each in a few moments. At the bottom of the bag, his face wrinkled up, pulling out a small hand sewn doll of a girl he recognized. He squeezed it lightly and a tape from somewhere within turned on, playing a short voice sample. The boy next to him gasped audibly and ripped the doll from his grasp, shoving it beneath his seat before anyone could question otherwise. His small cheeks were flushed a deep red color and the orange haired girl in front of him laughed.

Ene, super pretty cyber girl that she is, found herself soon tired of the conversations ensuing and slipped herself back into the radio, tuning it to an oldies station. A cheesy love song drifted into the vehicle and Marry perked up, quite enjoying the melody. Seto sang along, serenading his young medusa and was rewarded with a smile. He chuckled and held her close, enjoying this ride more than the others. Kano attempted to sing to Kido but was quickly backhanded and shut up.

"How cruuuuuel," the deceiver sing-songed, "I was just trying to show my love for you, Kido!" Sporting his stupidly false grin, he hummed along obnoxiously, tapping his toes on the dashboard. Kido sighed, finally seeing a sign with their choice destination listed on it. As the turnoff drew near, she could hear Konoha asking everyone for more food. When he couldn't find any, he grew quiet and solemn and hugged his triceratops tightly. Ene took note of this mood change and did the only thing she could do, she turned on the DVD player to some children's dinosaur movie that might draw his attention. As she had suspected, he watched it intently until they arrived at their hotel and then he thanked her.

"I liked that movie," he grinned, "Thank you, Ene-chan…" She blushed and hid her face in her oversized blue sleeve.

"It was nothing…"

As they checked into the hotel, Kido was surprised to find out that Kano had personally taken to arranging the rooms the way he wanted them. Seto and Marry were of course, not separated, Momo and Shintaro shared a room—since they're siblings, it only made sense—and Hibiya shared a room with the android male. That left one room. The cat-eyed boy grinned and accepted their room key, linking his arm with Kido's and pulling her along. She shot a look back to the others, trying to find someone to switch with, but nobody dared look her way. Her hands clenched into fists and she punched Kano hard in the side. He tumbled overdramatically into the wall and pretended to be badly wounded, even going so far as to tell her to leave him and go on. The green haired girl grabbed him by his ear and dragged him to their room, the only room away from the others.

All of the rooms in the main cluster had connecting doors and Momo decided it was best if they were always left open.

"That's a stupid idea, Obasan," Hibiya muttered, loud enough to be heard. She glared at him and grabbed him.

"I keep telling you, I'm only sixteen!" He rolled his eyes as she shook his shoulders. She finally gave up on getting any form of an apology and huffed, turning back to Marry. "Either way, don't you think it's a good idea, Marry-chan?" Her voice had quickly changed tones as she addressed her best friend. The small girl nodded, her fluffy cream hair bouncing as she did.

"It'll be like a big sleepover!" she agreed excitedly, clinging to her large green deer prince, "W-We can all do stuff together, right, Seto?" Her large round eyes looked up at him expectedly and he smiled.

"Of course, Marry." A grumble was heard from the Kisaragi room as Shintaro appeared in the connecting doorway.

"What're you suggesting, Momo?" he asked, slightly disgruntled and still fairly asleep. The idol smiled and explained her idea again, loud enough that she was sure Ene could also hear. "N. O. We are…" He was cut off by a loud voice that shifted from his ear bud to the TV.

"Oooo!" she grinned, her pigtails bobbing in the nonexistent air, "That sounds really fun, riiiiiight, Master?" Her voice held its normal, slippery quality, letting Shintaro know that if he said anything wrong, she'd release all of his private information. He shivered slightly and swallowed the lump of disagreement in his throat.

"Ah… uh… Y-Yeah… it sounds g-great…" His facial expression showed his true feelings but it was good enough for Ene. Seeing as Konoha was already asleep and wouldn't much care, Hibiya was outnumbered and the doors stayed open that night as the six—seven including Ene—slept. However, things didn't go as swimmingly with the pair separated from the Dan.


	3. A Night with an Idiot

Kano grinned as he opened the door to their room on the second floor but his smile was soon wiped off his face as Kido's foot connected with his back. She growled and muttered under her breath about how useless he was as she dropped her suitcase on the bed. She knew exactly what he'd done and she hated it. He chuckled nervously as he shut the door behind himself and dropped his luggage next to hers. He flopped down into one of the armchairs littering the space and watched her carefully. He thought about his words before he said anything.

"So…" he started, receiving her signature death glare.

"I hate you."

"I know…" His smile was false but it wasn't because he was using his ability. She sat in the chair across from him and continued glaring. "Kido… I just… ah, never mind." He waved his hand in a motion as if he was physically waving away the end of his thought. He smiled, a mixture of apology and nervousness, though Kido suspected the apology was as fake as his grin.

"Why not choose to room with someone different?" The answer was obvious to the both of them but she still felt it needed asking.

"Nobody else would wanna be with me…" he lied.

"Bull crap." Her gaze didn't soften and he sighed, standing up from his chair and walking over to her.

"I wanted to be with you, Tsubomi…" his eyes were a darker golden than they had previously been and his expression was far more sullen than earlier. He leaned over her and rested his hands on the armrests. With his face just mere inches from her own, she spoke in a rather bored tone.

"When'd you decide to start calling me that again, Shuuya?" she hesitated slightly before saying his given name and she silently hoped he hadn't heard it. He, of course, did but he played it off as nothing, leaning ever so slightly closer.

"Nnn… a few moments ago…" he watched her carefully, his eyes darting around her features before filling with the familiar red color and he smiled, standing straight and turning away. "I think I'm gonna take a shower…" With that, Kano walked into the bathroom and shut the door, leaving her behind to fume.

Kido stretched and repositioned herself on the chair; she rested her head against the armrest and let her jade hair spill over the side. She watched the bathroom door for a long while as she heard the water click on. She hadn't planned on sleeping where she was but it wasn't her decision as sleep overtook her.

Kano turned the water off and stepped out, he grabbed a towel and then realized he'd forgotten his clothes as he'd fled to the bathroom. He sighed deeply and peaked out from the door, quietly calling out for her. As no reply came, he took a few paces out and understood why she hadn't said anything. He approached her carefully, quietly, making sure to not wake her; he knelt next to the chair and studied her face. Nearly everything about this girl was ordinary; she was quiet in public and hard to notice, yet in his eyes, everything was quite extraordinary.

He made an executive decision and grabbed his clothes, changing as quickly as he could without making noise; he walked over, gently sliding his arms beneath her and scooping her up. It felt strange and he knew she'd kill him if she found out but he maneuvered her over to the bed, taking great care to not let her hit anything as he did. He laid her down and pulled the blanket over her figure, indulging himself slightly by letting his hand slide over her hair. A light heat rose on his cheeks but he masked it, not wanting her to see it were she to wake. As he made his way around the bed to the other side, he shut the lights off and slipped in beside her. She was warm, a nice warm that made him feel comfortable, and safe. Risking it, he wrapped his arms around her and held her to his chest, feeling her steady breathing as it fell into time with his own.

The next morning he woke up groggy and not quite sure of where he was; he found himself shiver in the cold emptiness that was previously filled with a warm body. He shot up, remembering the night before and searched for the green haired girl. As he padded around barefoot, he heard the water start up in the bathroom. Kano wandered to the door and opened it slightly.

"Kidooooo," he called into the already steam filled room, "I'm awaaaake!" His announcement scared her and he heard a thud. He shot into the room, worried that she'd hurt herself. He picked a shadow out and began focusing his eyes on it when a shampoo bottle raced towards his face, hitting him square in the forehead.

"What do you think you're doing?!" she screamed, quickly hiding herself with her ability.

"I thought you'd fallen!" he yelled back in defense as another bottle came rocketing towards him; he let it hit him as punishment for the thoughts swimming around his mind.

"Get out, you idiot!" her voice seemed to be closer than before and it startled him when she pushed him back and appeared before him, wrapped in a towel, face flushed a bright red. He felt his mask fail slightly and his cheeks turn as bright a color as hers were. He tried not to but his eyes wandered up and down her figure that was typically hidden beneath the large, oversized hoodie. She noticed and she reached to punch him before realizing that she would be giving him a nice view were she to swing. She huffed, swiveled and rushed back into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her, leaving a stunned deceiver lying on the floor.

Kano sat in his daze until a knock on the door pushed him back into reality. He jumped, startled and ran to answer it, finding that a few—still sleepy—members of the Dan stood on the other side. Marry rubbed her eyes and clung tighter to Seto's back as he held her in a piggyback position. Momo yawned and blinked, her eyes tired and cloudy. The smile on the tall boy with black hair's face was awake and alert.

"Breakfast is downstairs, you and Kido ready to go?" At the mention of her name, she seemed to appear behind him, her voice holding high frustration and annoyance.

"I am, I don't know about this moron."

"U-Uh… just give me a second," he answered, plastering on a mask and running back to get dressed. Kido stepped out of the room and she glared at everything, the floor, ceiling, the Dan, and her feet. Her morning had not started well and she suspected the rest of her day would not go much better. The only thing she currently knew for sure was that Kano Shuuya would pay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edited A/N: So I ended up revising this chapter but of course, I took so long that I lost my original file and so well crap. There goes my previous author notes. Anyways, here is what the A/N originally said:
> 
> In case you as a reader are wondering why some words are in ()'s, it's because they're going to be edited later to work better but for now, I leave them as they are when I write them.
> 
> It's funny because this chapter was actually rather hard for me to write-despite being KanoKido trash to the core.
> 
> I hope you enjoy and look forward to the next few chapters, they will mainly focus on different ships while the story progresses. If there is anything you find inaccurate or OOC, please leave me a note and I will try to fix it as best as I can.


	4. Breakfast and an abrupt swim

The nine members of the Dan were slightly crowded, sitting around a medium sized circular table in the small dining room of the hotel. Each had gathered up a small—or in Konoha's case, large—plate of food from the limited selection offered. Nobody made much conversation except for Ene who sat in Shintaro's phone and brought up things for him to buy while he couldn't decline because his mouth was full. Konoha quickly downed his food and began asking the others for their food. Kano grinned mischievously at Kido and held his apple out to her.

"What?" she grumbled, very displeased with his decision to interact with her.

"I want to share my apple with you, dearest princess," his voice held very vague hints of sarcasm as he spoke the word 'princess'. She glared at him, but he held his expression, pretending to be innocent.

"I don't want it." He scoffed as if mortally wounded by her rejecting his apple, his hand shot to the place over his heart.

"But, my dear princess, it's just one bite."

"You've never seen Snow White?" He seemed lost at this, as if not really having considered that.

"I promise it's okay…" Seeing this as a fairly good opportunity to start her revenge, she reached over and pealed the small sticker off of the red surface. His smile widened, thinking she really would take a bite before the round adhesive surface was stuck to his forehead, right between the brows. Ene cackled at this, having taped the whole thing, as per usual. Kano sat stunned, the apple sitting in his still outstretched hand. It wasn't until a hand reached over and snatched it away that the two noticed their plates had been emptied along with the plates of the others. Konoha sat innocently eating the plundered apple.

As the Dan left breakfast, two stomachs growled louder than the rest. They decided that they'd start off their vacations by hitting the indoor pool and then going out to eat somewhere. Ene and Konoha, unable to go to the pool for different reasons, stayed back in Konoha's hotel room.

She flitted across the large television screen and surfed—nearly literally—through the onslaught of entertainment media while the android quickly fell asleep, sprawled out on the floor. Her pigtails floated as she turned to watch him, already bored with whatever she'd stopped the cable on. Everything about the avatar was familiar and she felt a sharp pain in her chest, eyes watering up as she thought of her Haruka. The dark haired boy wasn't much different from his new persona but they weren't the same and deep down, Ene knew she would have to let go, let go of her past life's dreams. Her future was with Shintaro now, fulfilling a wish Ayano had once made, to give him someone more selfish than himself. It hurt, even now to think that she'd never see Haruka again, never be able to confess her feelings.

Watching his chest move slowly up and down, the cyber girl sighed heavily. As hard as she'd tried, she kept being drawn to this 'poser' even as he continued to let her down. She reminded herself again that he had no memories of her and that Takane was now buried deep inside her. It still hurt, the pain was excruciating. She felt as though her digital body was being pulled to pieces pixel by pixel, being torn apart and deleted, being ripped out and forgotten. Silent tears streamed down her face and she turned away, not being able to stand the sight of him any longer.

Shintaro was—needless to say—surprised when he heard a small call from his jacket pocket and he pulled it out to see Ene's face pressed against the screen, trying to get his attention.

"Maaaaasteeeeer!" she yelled, "Can we play a game?" The giggle that escaped her lips and the smile that spread across his face managed to successfully tape her pieces back together before she fell apart completely.

Shintaro sat at the far side of the room, away from the water in his usual red jersey, despite the hot temperature of the room. He had just been watching his sister sitting in the shallow end with Hibiya when the bright eyed, blue haired brat—as he liked to call her—called loudly for him and appeared in his screen, whining about playing a game. He smiled, secretly glad for the company and agreed to play. Down a few seats, the Danchou sat staring at the group in the pool; beside her, the deceiver sat, blathering on about something stupid. He felt sorry for her in a way but he wouldn't risk helping her, Kano might switch to bugging him. Oddly enough, Shintaro noted, Kido wasn't glaring at, or hitting him. It was strange to watch them interact almost like normal, civil, people do.

He turned his attention back to his virtual roommate and let her start up whatever game she wanted; it wasn't a surprise as she opened a game he didn't remember purchasing but he shrugged it off and played with her.

Kido watched Seto carefully leading Marry around since the water didn't come up very high on his tall frame. The medusa's long hair had been braided multiple times so that it wouldn't weigh her down quite as much and she sported a pink inner tube around her waist, keeping her afloat in water that was much too far above her head normally. It was fairly common knowledge that Seto did not particularly care for large bodies of water, regulated or not, but his face showed no signs of it as he guided the small girl around and smiled at each one of her plenteous giggles. It was almost sickening for Kido to watch, they were far too perfect for each other. The green haired girl sighed in her chair, resting her head on the back. She had just closed her eyes when she felt a weight on her chest.

Kano reclined against her, head resting on her chest, grin painted stupidly on his face.

"What're you doing…?"

"Resting, what does it look like?" He shifted slightly, making Kido much more uncomfortable than she was previously.

"Well then go rest somewhere else…" she said irritably, pushing him away from her as best she could. He replied by wrapping his arms tightly around her and burying his face in her chest. "Stop it! Get off of me!" She continued pushing him, trying to get him to release her.

"No."

"Why you…" her thought was interrupted by a cheery laugh from the water. Seto's laugh was contagious and Marry began giggling. Kido could feel Kano grinning and she hated him even more for it. She smacked him hard on the back and he let go, laughing in pain. Her face was flushed and he used this as more fuel for his torment.

"Eh?! Tsubomi-chan is blushing?" his tone indicated how accomplished he felt and she punched him, knocking him backwards off of his chair. She felt her eyes start burning and for the second time that day, was thankful for her ability. She'd managed to get nearly to the door when Shuuya reached out and grabbed onto her, nulling her power. She attempted to kick him off but he stayed attached. A calm voice spoke up.

"Shuuya, we're using our given names again?" Seto had carefully pulled Marry to the side of the pool and he relaxed his arms on the stone. Kano grinned and nodded.

"I didn't agree to this…" Kido muttered with annoyance.

"You didn't need too; Kousuke likes the idea, right?" He looked to Seto for backup and received it. Seto nodded.

"I like it…" he looked to Marry, "but you can still call me Seto if you want, Marry…" She thought for a moment and hugged him as best she could.

"I like both of your names…" He chuckled and scooped her up out of the water, holding her in his arms, again, a sickening sight for Kido.

Not bothering with her ability, Kido dragged Kano out the door and headed for their room. The cheeky cat-eyed boy waved to the Dan as they left.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edited A/N: I went and fixed a couple of things in this chapter so here is what the previous a/n said:
> 
> Being in the car traveling for hours on end fives me plenty of time to write for this! I hope this chapter was as good as the others... I'd love to hear any thoughts on it.


	5. Unwanted Guests with an Unwanted Plan

As soon as the room door had shut behind them, Kano released his 'prisoner' and walked over to the bed. He flopped down and grabbed the remote for the TV, turning it to some war documentary. Kido sat down next to him and attempted to watch what he had put on but was quickly bored of it; she put her headphones in and turned on her favorite playlist. Kano deactivated his ability, obviously watching her now. He watched as she closed her eyes and bobbed softly to the music that only she could hear. He watched her like a hawk watched its prey, memorizing every tiny moment and every flutter of her eyelashes. It was oddly intoxicating, he found himself unable to look away for several minutes.

Kido—with eyes still closed—leaned over and set her head on his shoulder. Surely she was simply tired but he rested his head atop her head and held his hand out to hold hers. She swatted his hand away but didn't move from where she was.

"I still hate you, Shuuya."

"I know…" He sighed softly but enjoyed the closeness. A knock on the door startled the two apart, Kido running to get the door. She opened it and was pushed back into the room by Momo and Marry.

"What're you two…" They ran to the bed and dragged Kano—who cried out in confusion—from it.

"H-Hey! This is our room, what're you doing?!" The two attempted to drag him to the door but Kido stepped into the way. The two sighed, exasperated and dropped the deceiver's arms.

"We've got a surprise for Danchou…" Momo started, trying to make it seem exciting though that excitement did not reach either of them.

"A-And Kano-san can't be in here when she gets it…" Marry added quietly, "It's a really good surprise and I'm sure that Kano-san will love it too…" She smiled politely, silently pleading with them. Kano puffed his cheeks out.

"What if I don't wanna lea—." His sentence was cut short by the Medusa who had taken matters into her own hands, her eyes were glowing slightly more red than their natural pink color. Momo took this as an opportunity and lifted him by his frozen arms and gave Kido the 'puppy dog eyes'. She sighed but moved out of the way as they pulled him into the hallway. When the door had closed, Momo lifted a large white bag with some store name printed on the side.

"So… We wanna go to karaoke tonight, Danchou…" she started, "But everyone needs to dress up…" Instantly, her green hair was swaying as she shook her head.

"No. No way, no how, Kisaragi." Marry chewed on her bottom lip, deciding if it was really worth it but she stepped close to Kido and whispered.

"I'm sorry…" The next thing the leader knew, she was frozen in place and Momo began the makeover, pulling out all sorts of hideous dresses and makeup accessories.

Finally unfreezing, Kano took a deep breath and pounded on the door, having been forced to leave his key in the room. He could hear rustling and then someone shouted that they were busy and he grumbled. Wandering to the other rooms, he decided to spend some time annoying them. His knock on the first door was answered by a worried looking Konoha.

"Have you seen Ene-chan?" he asked nervously, "I lost her…" Kano laughed, knowing she'd probably just left for a few moments.

"Maybe ask Shintaro-kun…" Konoha nodded and pushed past him, going to find where the hikiNEET had gone. A sound from his phone notified him that he had a guest. Kano pulled out his phone and looked at Ene with a very false smile.

"Are you avoiding him, Ene-chaaan?" He watched her reaction closely, noticing the way she fidgeted awkwardly.

"No… I'm… not trying to avoid him…" Her face flushed gently and she rubbed her eyes furiously with her sleeved hands.

"He really thinks highly of you… Are you just avoiding him because he doesn't remember you?" Even having hit the nail on the head, Ene glared at him.

"You don't know anything, cat-eyes-san!" Her expression softened, "You just don't know anything…" He considered using his ability but held himself back.

"You should go talk to him, he seemed pretty freaked that he couldn't find you…" She blushed a bright red and her pigtails bobbed as she covered her face. "It'd be the nice thing to do…"

"What do you know about being nice?"

"A little…"

"Is that why Danchou hates you?" He stayed quiet, not wanting this to turn back on him for long. Finally deciding it was for the best, his eyes lit red and burned, giving the appearance of Haruka. Ene gasped though she knew it was a trick and nothing more.

"You don't like the new me, Takane?" Tears welled up in her eyes and she screamed at him.

"Stop it! You have no right!"

"Go see me…"

"Stop it!" She choked out, "It's not funny!" Turning, she dashed off the screen and was gone from his phone, heading back to Shintaro. He shoved his phone back in his pocket and began back towards his room.

Momo grinned, leaning back and gesturing Marry to come over and look. She was extremely proud of the work she'd down and had been able to make Kido look almost feminine. Marry gasped and smiled adorably.

"It looks so good, Momo-chan!" Momo's stance was proud and, finally able to move, Kido frowned.

"This is uncomfortable." As she stood, she made it a point to tug lightly on the bottom of the shorts they'd put her in. She stood in what Momo had deemed cute; a lilac colored long sleeve t-shirt, shorts that were far too short for the leader's tastes and extremely uncomfortable sandals. Kido reached for her hoodie which had been discarded to the side but the young Kisaragi grabbed it before her.

"You look so good though, Danchou! You don't need to wear your hoodie all the time."

"I won't go out like this."

"But Danchouuuuu, you have to… everyone wants to see you!" This caught her attention and she glared at the orange haired girl.

"I don't need to do anything, Kisaragi. You can all go without me." With that, she grabbed her hoodie back and slipped it back on just as someone knocked on the door. Her stride was much longer and she beat the other two to the door, opening it and coming face to face with her least favorite person. He smiled and then noticed what she was wearing.

"Eh? You got dressed up for me, Tsubomi?" His eyes glittered mischievously and his voice mocked. She rolled her eyes and glared.

"In your dreams, idiot."

"Ah yes… only in my dreams…" He batted his long eyelashes at her, causing her to kick him in the leg and he crumpled to the floor. "I'm joking! I'm joking! I swear!" She was about to hit him when the rest of the Dan showed up in the hallway. Embarrassed to be seen as she was, Kido tried to dart back into the room but three pairs of hands grabbed her and kept her where she was. Seto smiled, apparently not seeing anything wrong with this and asked the question she had been dreading since they explained their plans.

"Are we all ready to go?" Marry let go of Kido and skipped over to him, nearly instantly being scooped up into his arms. She nodded and cuddled up to him.

"Let's go then?" With a small squeak, Kano again assumed his position on her arm and towed her along behind the others.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edited A/N: There were a few things in this chapter that I found pretty confusing when rereading and so those are fixed.
> 
> Previous A/N: I'm so sorry that this one isn't as well written and the ideas weren't the greatest, I was pushing through a little bit of writer's block on this chapter.


	6. Not-so-Songs from the Heart

The group reserved their room and purchased their package for the evening. As they entered, the Dan dispersed to the different couches, sitting in an expected fashion. Momo had dragged Hibiya to the seats closest the front, followed by Marry and Seto, Kido with Kano, Shintaro, Konoha, and Ene slipped her way into the electronics. The idol went first and pulled her "sidekick" up alongside her, choosing an English song though neither knew the words. As they finished their duet, Marry looked to Seto.

"Can we go up now, Seto?" He nodded and stood with her, switching spots with the previous singers. The young cream haired girl picked a love song-something from an older movie that none of the audience had seen, let alone heard of. The couple swayed in time to the music and sang, gazing into the other's eyes. The love they shared (showed) on their faces as most of the Dan tuned out. When they had finished, the tall boy in green scooped up Marry and carried her back to their seats. Ene swam up on the screen in a relaxed pose, looking out at her friends.

"Who's up next?" she almost challenged. The leader cringed as the boy beside her raised his hand enthusiastically.

"Danchou and I will do it!" Whipping her head around to glare at him, he grabbed her arm and pulled her to the front. She attempted to throw a punch at him but he caught her hand and grinned. She huffed and he picked out some stupid song, handing her a microphone. As the upbeat, nauseating tune began, Kido held the mic. down at her side, making it obvious that she wasn't interested. Kano pouted and wrapped his arms around her tightly, forcing her to sway to the song; however, a quick elbow to the ribs stopped this problem. He laughed and sang overdramatically, trying multiple techniques to get her to join in but each failed. Marry clapped happily to the song and Ene could be heard holding back snickers. When the song ended, the deceiver made a grandiose gesture and bowed deeply, his 'duet partner' already seated again. He plopped down beside her and leaned on her.

The girl's black eyes glared into his golden ones but he didn't move. A sigh escaped her lips and she rested her head on top of his, ignoring the few questioning looks she received. Ene again extended her challenge to the Dan and this time, the white haired android boy raised his hand.

"Can I sing with you, Ene-chan?" A flush lit her face and her twin tails fluttered at this.

"I-I guess you can…" she mumbled, not wanting to seem too excited. He smiled and stood, picking the microphone up awkwardly and looking at the super pretty cyber girl for further instructions. She picked a song about change and new beginnings, not getting any questions as the intro started. They both sung, Konoha's voice much quieter and more reserved. After the song, he looked to her again with a smile.

"I liked that a lot…" he stated softly, "I want to do that again…" She rubbed her face with her sleeve and nodded, selecting another fitting song that only she would understand.

As the duets—and selected solos—continued, Kido found herself growing steadily sleepier. She found herself without a pillow as Kano shifted positions to be sitting upright again, and she took the initiative to lay her head on his shoulder as he had previously done to her. He tensed a bit before his ability kicked in and the stiffness disappeared from his outer appearance. As the end of their reservation drew near, she began to doze in and out of consciousness, barely realizing when sleep took her.

"—do…" a voice interrupted her thoughts, "Kiiiido, wake up, sleepyhead…" She frowned, sitting up and rubbing her eyes, the annoyingly fake tone had already gotten on her nerves.

"What…" she groused, looking at him through slightly blurry vision. Around the room, others began stretching, standing, and getting generally ready to leave.

"Time to go," he gabbed and stood, offering his hand to her. She smacked his hand away for the second time that day and attempted to stand, wobbling and leaning into him drowsily. He chuckled and took her handing, not asking for permission first, and helped lead her out, followed by the others. Seto carried Marry on his back; the sweet, pink eyed girl yawned and buried her face in his shoulder. The messy looking group, making it safely back to their hotel and separating for the night.

Without changing into pajamas, Kido crawled under the covers, burying her face in a pillow. Kano quickly swapped clothes and sat very close beside her.

"What do you think you're doing, Kano?" she questioned, turning somewhat to look at him.

"I don't know what you mean, Tsubomi…"

"You're too close, scoot over." To this request, he scooted closer, now touching her.

"Better?" He snickered, knowing exactly how to frustrate her.

"I hate you."

"We've covered this before, Princess."

"Don't call me that." Looking him in the eye, she glared. Oddly enough, after a few seconds, her expression softened into a scowl. Kano counted the seconds that passed as they sat frozen like that—amounting to only a few brief moments. His mask must've slipped at some instant because her expression hardened again.

"Stop staring at me like that, Shuuya." He blinked, confused, and she turned away again, her cheeks filling with a vivid red.

A floor below, the other group prepared for sleep as well. Shintaro forced Momo to go to bed at a reasonable hour although she and Marry had yet to finish all of the flower crowns. After the Kisaragi siblings settled for bed, Seto carried a heavy-eyed Marry to their bed and the two quickly fell asleep, cuddled up to one another. Hibiya stayed up for a few hours, working on a 'secret project' and then climbed into his fold out bed and admired his Hiyori doll as his roommate raided their small bag of snacks yet again.

Konoha, not having looked away from his food yet, did not notice the squinted blue eyes in the corner of the television screen; neither had he noticed the swaying blue tails. When he did though, they quickly hid again.

"Wait! E-Ene-chan?" he whispered, trying to coax her back into his field of sight.

"What?" Her voice was soft and unlike its normal tone, it held a heavy undertone of sadness and perhaps some regret.

"I enjoyed singing with you tonight…"

"It was nothing..."

"Will you do it again with me sometime…?"

"Of course…" Her face stuck back up from the corner and he smiled at her, waving to let her know that she had been spotted. His eyes began to droop, signaling he was ready for slumber as well.

"Goodnight, Ene-chan…" he mumbled, slumping onto his side and falling into a deep rest.

"Goodnight, Haruka…" Her reply came almost inaudibly but some part of him heard it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original A/N: Aaaah, I am so very sorry that this took so long! My original idea fell through and I was stuck in a writer's block. DX Anyways, here is this chapter... I also have a poll going on if you'd like to vote for a say in how this fanfiction will go, please check my profile. ^^
> 
> Also, I kinda wanted to clear up that there might be some misunderstandings in some places because I have a very sarcastic way of writing and I'm not really sure how to make things more easy to understand. ^^""
> 
> As always, I love hearing your thoughts and reactions. Your reviews help me so much! I'm very grateful that this has received so much wonderful feedback, especially for it being my first fanfiction for this series. I hope you will all continue to enjoy the story!


	7. Storms, Kisses, and Mood-swings

A loud clap of thunder woke Shuuya from his rather pleasant slumber. He glanced at the curtained window as a bright flash of lighting lit the room. Panic set in as he remembered his roommate's fear of storms and his head whipped to look at the empty sheets beside him. Scrambling to his feet, a small sliver of light caught his attention, emanating from the cracked bathroom door. He neared the door but heard nothing inside; his knuckles rapped against the wood and he called inside.

"Tsubomi? You in there?" After not receiving a reply he added, "I'm coming in…" The door swung in easily with only the tiniest of squeaks and he scanned the vacant bathroom. Suddenly an almost inaudible noise caught his attention and he wandered to where he knew she was. Sliding down beside her, he stared at the shower adjacent them before speaking again.

"You know your ability isn't very effective with me…" From the corner of his eye he watched as she slowly became visible again; she hugged her knees to her chest, eyes red from crying and she peered at him. A smile played across his lips and he wrapped his arm around her shoulder, pulling her to rest against his side. She pushed slightly to move away but he kept his grip on her.

"Just for right now…"

"…Okay…" she gave in, letting herself be held, his warmth a comfort to her. She shifted to be closer, pressing her ear against his chest and listening to his heartbeat; she figured that she could get as close as she wanted since no one would ever know. Shuuya repositioned also, closing the space between them, and pulling her into his lap. A silent agreement was made as the two fell asleep together that as long as the secret could live, it would.

Tsubomi awoke first, leaning back and starting at the blonde's face. His long eyelashes rested against his cheeks and his mouth was parted faintly. She waited a moment, trying to make sure he was truly asleep and then leaned forward. Their lips met and she quickly regretted her decision as she could feel him respond. Pulling away, she attempted to also remove herself from his lap but his eyes flickered open, red in color, and he spoke softly.

"Don't go…" His arms tightened around her waist, making it hard to move away and she grumbled.

"Why're you using your ability?" She hated that he had the nerve to use it when they were so close to each other and she'd just put herself out of her comfort zone to do something so intimate. He blinked a few times and his eyes returned to their natural gold, his face lighting with a heavy blush. He seemed to be uncomfortable and it was a sight that she wasn't used to.

"Now will you stay…?" his voice was quiet and questioning with a shadowy hint of pleading. "I promise I won't use my ability…"

"You're a liar."

"That is what I'm known for, Tsubomi…" His mask flickered on his face but disappeared as her hand came down across his cheek with a loud smacking sound. Frozen in shock, the place of impact slowly reddening, arms wrapped around his neck and his attention was drawn from the pain to the girl clinging to him. "What…"

"Stop lying…" her tone wavered, unable to conceal any more than her presence. He opened his mouth to speak but a loud knocking brought them both to attention. A cheery girl outside called through the door.

"Rise and shine, Danchou!" Kisaragi's words caused the leader to push away as quickly as she could and she ran from the bathroom, slamming the door behind her. Shuuya watched as the door swung shut, closing him on the opposite side from her.

"Oh, Tsubomi…" he mused, "You know I can't do that… I've been drowning in my uncanny self for far too long…" As he felt his eyes begin burning again, he stood and followed suit, emerging from the room to see the young Kisaragi sibling speaking with Kido from the hall. He stepped behind green haired girl and waved to the other.

"Why hello, Momo-chan~" Her eyes flashed to the deceiver before looking back at the girl she was conversing with. With a gasp, Kano scooted up beside Kido and spoke theatrically, "Ouch! I don't get a 'good morning'? Not even a 'hello'? I feel underappreciated." Both sets of eyes turned on him and a fist lodged itself temporarily in his gut. He sunk to the ground, clutching his stomach, "O-Okay! I take it back! I don't need one…" The orange haired girl was the next to speak, but once again, it wasn't directed at the mess on the floor.

"So are you ready to go to breakfast, Danchou?"

"I'm not exactly dressed yet…"

"Eh?! You slept in that?" her tone was exasperated as if Kido had committed the most heinous of crimes.

"Yeah…?" Kido mumbled, becoming aware that she was still in the clothing that the girls had forced her to wear. Her hands slipped from the pocket of her hoodie and tugged at the hem of the shorts, still too revealing in her opinion.

"It's gonna wrinkle though!"

"So…?"

"You can't wear wrinkled clothing, Danchou…"

"Why can't…" she was cut off by an annoying laugh from near her feet. A kick to the shin shut off the obnoxious sound however.

"You just can't. You're coming with me." And with that, the much shorter girl grabbed Kido's arm and pulled her off in the direction of the elevator.

The boy, having been left behind in the room, closed the door and swiftly planned out what he'd do before heading out. A shower was the first thing on his list and he stripped down, stepping in and letting the steaming water embrace him as though it could wash away all of his sins and let him start anew. When the water began to beat cold against his back, he turned it off and got out, drying himself but letting his sandy hair air dry. He rubbed his eyes and studied himself in the mirror with disgust. He had gotten too close and had nearly lost the game that the two had silently played for years. The thought made him laugh bitterly.

"I'm losing the game willingly…" A droplet landed on the bridge of his nose and he glanced back up into the glass, his reflection seemingly mocking him. A sickly twisted and foreign smile curled the image's lips. Trembling fingers fumbled with the faucet and scooped up a handful of water, splashing the corrupted face and sobering him. He sighed and again wiped his face; not wanting to deal any more with his reflection, Shuuya straightened himself and left the mocking glass to pull on his normal attire. Once fully dressed, he pulled his best mask on and promised himself that he wouldn't let it falter; with that, he made his way to join the other boys sitting in the dining room, a convincing smile lighting his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I'm very sorry if they're OOC in this chapter, there was bound to be at least one chapter where they were OOC...
> 
> Also, I'm really sorry if people don't like how I portrayed Kano in this chapter... I kinda wanted to delve into the madness of his ability a little... and if anyone has question please comment or message me and I'll gladly answer them for you. Thank you very much for taking the time to read this and for sticking around when I haven't been updating it very quickly.


	8. There's a Nice View From Here

As the blonde scooted the chair back and slid into the cushy seat, he grinned at the four other boys of the Dan. Three of the males waved a good morning while the other sat eating from a large mountain of food.

"So…" Kano began, voice laced with amusement, "Konoha… you and Ene are a thing now?" The white haired boy's face contorted in confusion, finishing the next layer of food.

"What does that mean…?"

"Do you like her?" His cat shaped eyes glittered, waiting for a reply.

"Yes," he smiled, "I like Ene-chan… a lot…" Shintaro rubbed his face and rolled his eyes, slightly irritated by his innocence.

"I don't think you two are thinking in the same terms of 'like'…"

"I like Ene-chan a lot… like how Kano-san likes Kido-san…" This grabbed the liar's attention, stunning him for a moment.

"What?" He didn't receive a response since the android had already begun eating again. Seto attempted to hide a smile and Hibiya looked unamused, fixing pieces of a small doll in his lap. Again Shintaro rolled his eyes, taking a long drink of his soda. He then turned his attention to the currently wide-eyed deceiver and shook his head softly.

"It's pretty obvious, Kano…"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Whatever, go ahead and keep lying to yourself, not my problem." The black haired boy leaned back, his red jersey making contact with the chair back. Another long sip of soda and a moment of awkward silence passed between the five. Seto's hand landed on Kano's shoulder and the green clad boy smiled.

"It's okay, Shuuya…" This caused the deceiver to grin wildly.

"I assure you that if there are any feelings between us that they are merely one-sid—"A hand came down across his face from behind and sent his tumbling from his chair. A tall female figure appeared in front of him. Her stony expression and defiant stance didn't match well with the obnoxiously frilly outfit she'd been forced into and the sheer sight made Kano snort, trying to contain his laugh while her fiery glare was aimed at him. The light violet ruffled shirt and the—rather short—tiered skirt looked nice in his opinion but it caused his mind to wander and he silently mused over if she'd been forced to wear more than just the outer clothing. His question was quickly answered as her foot made contact with his face and gifted him a view up her skirt. Momo screeched and buried her face in her hands, embarrassed by what the green-haired girl had just done. Unfazed, Kido removed her foot from the boy's face, turned, and sat in the previously occupied seat.

The table was quiet for a few moments with only the horrified noises escaping from the idol's mouth as background noise. Hibiya broke the silence as he turned to the bemoaning girl.

"How long are you gonna be a drama queen, Obasan?" The brunet asked, receiving only a whimper of pain that sounded as though Kido's actions had physically shot through one of the orange-haired girl's vital organs and she now was unable to properly function. Hibiya took this inhuman gurgle as his answer and he sighed, ready to drop the subject when Kano's face popped up from below the table.

"You know…" he mused, "I must say that I appreciate the finer details you made sure to add to the outfit, Momo-chan~" He chuckled, a sickly perverted grin lighting his face as the Danchou's elbow found itself propelled into his face. With a howl, he buckled backwards and curled into a small huddle on the ground. "That huuuuurt!" he whined, receiving another blow to his back. This time, he kept quiet and, using his mask, he kept the appearance up while watching his partner as she conversed with the rest of the group. He noticed her every twitch; he also noticed as the young medusa girl squirmed her way into Seto's lap in the next seat over and instantly took interest in the brochure he was flipping casually through. Seto laughed good naturedly as the innocent angel in his arms pointed at each attraction and asked him about it, successfully managing to keep her fluffy mass of hair out of his mouth.

The cream haired girl kicked her legs gently and hummed, rocking in a slight rhythm on the larger boy's lap. She continued to point things out as he turned the pages for her to see when a small picture caught her eye in the bottom corner of the page. She skipped pointing at the others and focused solely on the lovely image of what seemed to be an indoor garden, exotic flowers and butterflies littered the photograph with color.

"Seto! Seto!" she chirped excitedly, bouncing and turning to look at him, finger still lingering on the booklet. He glanced around her at whatever it was that had grasped her attention so firmly. He read over the little paragraph given and smiled. "Can we go there?" Pleading pink eyes gazed up into his own golden ones and he chuckled again, pulling her into a hug and pecking a kiss on her forehead.

"If it's alright with everyone else…" A blush lit her cheeks and she turned to the Dan, holding up the booklet and gesturing so they could all see.

"Please, please, pleeeease!" she begged, desperately wanting to go and see all that the picturesque gardens had to offer. Deciding it sounded like a good idea, they quickly finished up any business and boarded onto the van once more.

As they headed towards the listed address, another argument broke out over what the radio should be tuned to; however, the discussion ended abruptly when Ene gained control over the receiver and flipped constantly between stations, listening to a song here and then a song there.

Not particularly paying attention to anyone but the tall girl driving from the seat beside him, Kano didn't notice as a smallish plush object was hurled at his face, removing his mask and dazing him. Only when the youngest member howled in fury did he realize that the projectile was none other than the black haired doll Hibiya fussed over so much. Momo gave a triumphant laugh before her ponytail was yanked roughly. More yelling erupted from the back and the cat-eyed blonde watched as the commander sighed heavily and rubbed her forehead in a vain attempt to ward off the oncoming headache.

Kano chuckled and tossed the doll back to the brunette who feebly caught it and held it against his chest. Then, setting his plan in motion, the mask returned to his face and the blonde turned to the six members squished together. Marry, for once, was too hyped to fall asleep on Seto and instead, the two played some obscure hand games and were being overly lovey. The younger Kisaragi teased the elementary student while the older Kisaragi sat looking bored and unamused. Finally, Konoha stared blankly out the window, something inside of him greatly wishing to draw the scenery for someone that he didn't remember.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original A/N: I'm sorry that this took sooooo long! n I was fighting through a writer's block since school started up and so I was trying really hard to push through! However, thanks to my wonderful proofreaders Chinnie Ai, and Summerlilies, plus my amazing best friend MightBeWriting, I managed to get this chapter done! You should totally check them out because they're absolutely amaaaaaazing! I appreciate them soooo much~ Soooooo, the next chapter will be lots of fluff to make up for the bit of KonoEne/HaruTaka feels in the end of this chapter and it will hopefully be out sooner because I've been pulled from my writer's block of doom! So thank you all very much for sticking around and I hope you continue to enjoy my story~


	9. Literal Butterfly Problems (Part 1)

A warm gust of air assaulted the teens as they stepped into the enclosed sanctuary. They paid their entrance fee and got a reasonable discount for having eight people. Then, as they passed through the second set of doors, they were greeted with a large, open visiting area. The glass ceiling was high above and in the center of the room was a huge fountain; the statue positioned at the middle of the pooling water was smallish but impressive as it depicted a few young children surrounded by butterflies. Marry gasped and ran towards it, astounded by all of the fine details that made the young faces look nearly real. As Seto made it to her side, her face was once again lit with a sweet smile.

"Isn't it beautiful?" she asked, turning back to gaze at it once again. He chuckled softly, wrapped his arm around her petite body, and pulled her closer.

"It definitely is," he agreed, "Shall we go look at the real butterflies now?" At this, she nodded and latched her arms around his and they twisted to look at the others.

Konoha had taken Shintaro's phone and was wandering off in the direction of an archway at the end of the long hall while Momo was pulling the NEET to go examine the contents of a different archway. Where the group had once been, the youngest member, the cat-eyed boy, and the Danchou stood. Kido attempted—in slight vain—to keep any hint of interest off of her face as she 'casually' studied the archways. Of course, her near constant companion took note and his well-known trickster's smile spread across his face. He slid his hand into hers inside of her pocket and tugged—rather forcefully—to get her to follow him. A faint protest was muttered but she did as he wanted.

Hibiya, left with the love-birds, decided to run after them, trying to escape an even more awkward situation by not having to listen to Seto and Marry as they fawned over all of the insects. He honestly would've preferred to tag along with the idol because—as much as he hated to admit it—he really enjoyed her company and she could make him smile with such easy that it could almost make him forget about the horrible things that he had experienced in his short life. Sadly however, Hibiya hadn't quite been paying attention when the first pairs had split away and he hadn't seen which archway the orange-haired girl's back had receded into; he could've asked any of the four which were still nearby him but he didn't want to tell anyone that he really needed her.

The area in which the aforementioned idol pulled her pathetic brother into was slightly cooler than the rest of the building to accommodate the northern butterfly species'. It was a rather nice temperature, Shintaro noted as they walked, grateful for his usual red jersey. A smallish insect with beautiful, pale orange wings flitted across his line of sight and landed on his younger sister's single pigtail. Momo gasped and looked awestruck, reminding him greatly of the (slightly bratty) little girl that used to run to follow him wherever he would go, calling out at him to wait so she could catch up. The memory made him smile and he chuckled softly while gently removing the butterfly from her hair. Her eyes widened with her grin and she enthusiastically grabbed onto his sleeve.

"Onii-chan!" She bounced, pulling painfully on his arm, her voice echoed with that of the faint call from the previous memory. He sighed, smile disappearing only mildly.

"What?"

"Did you see that?!" she asked in her typical, blatantly obvious fashion. The innocence in her face caused her brother to again reminisce.

"Yeah…" he spoke, reaching up to ruffle her hair. This caused her to swing at his arm, panicking that he'd mess up her hair.

"Mean Onii-chan!" she yelled, sticking her tongue out and skipping ahead a few paces.

A few rooms away to the right, Konoha made his way through a more tropical section, the digital princess watching him carefully and occasionally making some sort of comment that would only hold his attention for mere moments before he would get distracted by another brightly colored winged insect. At one point, a rather large butterfly landed on the white fabric covering of his shirt. It had delicately intricate wing patterns and the main portion of the wing was the same rose colored as the boy's eyes. Ene giggled softly as he stared at it, so mystified by the tiny body that stared up at him from his shoulder.

"E-Ene-chan!" he started in a near whisper, startling the creature. It went to fly off but paused momentarily before taking flight and disappearing completely into the brush, the pink wings blending with the fantastic colors of the surrounding flowers that sprouted everywhere and grew in tall bunches in the grass.

"Did you see that?" he said as the most blissful expression lit his face, "It was as pretty as Ene-chan!" His direct compliment caught her off guard and caused the virus to blush and smile, picking at a stray pixel of her skirt.

"I'm not that pretty…" she mumbled just loud enough for him to hear. There were quite a few moments of silence before he made some sort of sharp inhale and she looked up to find him puffing out his cheeks.

"I don't believe that… I don't believe that at all." His tone and facial expression became sullen, showing that he was visibly upset by her putting herself down and she stuttered, trying to find the words to apologize for making him unhappy. However, he spoke again before she could even manage a single word.

"I think you're the most beautiful…" With that, he carefully brought the phone close and pecked a kiss on the screen, approximately where Ene floated. Every pixel of her being turned bright shades of red and error messages began popping up all over the screen stating that ' had stopped responding' or that other system functions were malfunctioning. This scared Konoha and he quickly shifted moods.

"E-Eh?! E-Ene-chan!" he called, panicky, "Are you okay?"

From behind her massive blue sleeves, she nodded and her pigtails shook in crazy directions, more error messages filling the screen and hiding her.

"I'm fine…" she muttered, "I just need a minute…" He nodded and found one of the few benches scattered throughout this part of the building and sat, waiting patiently for her to be alright again. When she finally floated back to the front, in front of the pop-ups, he smiled brightly and began closing the boxes one by one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original A/N: So I finally finished this chapter and I'm pretty pleased with it! This particular chapter is a two-part one and I hope to actually write the second part when I'm with my best friend soon so that I can get her to help with some ideas!
> 
> Also, I need to mention that one of my biggest supporters in this whole project has been my Kouhai. She is amazing and I just love her so much. She's a huge KonoEne shipper and so I promised a while back to write some KonoEne for her but I'm a pretty lazy person(/shot) and I never quite got done with it... well, the day that I'm posting this chapter is her birthday and the KonoEne in this chapter is for her. Kouhai, you are the best Ene and just remember that Kido-senpai loves you.
> 
> Anyways, I've got a lot of things in the works and I've been focusing more on those than on Road Trip and I wasn't really happy with how they were turning out so I retreated to my favorite of my fanfictions!
> 
> Either way, I sincerely hope you enjoyed this chapter and as always, I'd love to hear what you think of it! I could also use help with checking for OOC-ness! So if you find anything super OOC, please tell me so I can change it!
> 
> Thank you so very much for sticking with this story!


	10. Literal Butterfly Problems (Part 2)

As the couple walked down the warm exhibit pathways, Marry's hair bounced behind her. She excitedly pointed at all of the butterflies, tugged softly on the tall boy's sleeve. Seto chuckled, occasionally having to detangle the girl's long, curly hair from the branches that reached out farther across the walkway or having to release the startled insect that found itself sucked into the fluffy mass.

Seto could count a number of times when her hair seemed to have a mind of its own, eating anything that attempted to approach. This thought caused the boy to laugh softly, remembering times when he would walk into the living room to find Kido struggling to brush or braid Marry's hair.

This quiet sound drew the small girl's attention back to him. She smiled up at him, clinging to his arm as they continued their little adventure together.

In the furthest separated exhibit, Hibiya was surprised when he began to regret his choice of companions and started wishing to be with the frog-prince and the medusa. At least they were aware of their feelings.

The pair he had chosen instead was so obviously in denial, it pained the twelve-year-old to look at them. Weren't they glad that they were both still breathing? The image of Hiyori that he'd desperately tried to bury surfaced again and he sighed loudly. The green haired girl in front of him turned around, her lightly red-tinted irises locked onto his own.

"You okay, Hibiya?" she asked, probably genuinely concerned about him but he didn't really care at the moment if she was sincere or not. He shrugged, glaring at the ground as if it had done some personal offense against him when in reality; he was just very uncomfortable tagging along with the Danchou and her cat-like follower. He didn't notice as she frowned and removed her hand forcefully from the other boy's.

"What… are we too boring?" There was no anger or malice in her voice at all, she was simply curious. "We can find Kisaragi for you, you know…" She meant the best but before she could say anything else, the young boy's face lit brightly in red and he glared at her.

"I don't need Oba-san!" he yelled angrily before adding, in a much softer tone, "You guys aren't boring or anything…"

Kido puffed her cheeks out slightly, decided she would roll with it, and turned back to the blonde who promptly snatched her hand back in his own and pulled her forward to stand beside him. Hibiya watched the two of them, imagining what it'd be like to even be in a complicated relationship like theirs with Hiyori. The idea created a lump in his throat and he swallowed it, shaking the fantasy from his head.

Ahead of him, the deceiver continued to pull Kido with him, holding a tight grip on her so she couldn't fully use her power. It irked her that he thought it necessary to null her power. It was almost as if he had something stupid and embarrassing planned. From the corner of her eye, she saw his smirk grow to an unnatural size and she roughly squeezed his hand.

"Ow! What was that for, Tsubomi?" he whined, sticking his tongue out at her playfully.

"Payback," she stated simply. "You're making it so I can't disappear so I'm making it so you won't lie." She squeezed his hand again when the red started seeping back into the gold. He chuckled and winced a tad at her hold on him. He flashed a genuine smile at her.

No sooner had he done this, there was a tug at their focus from somewhere. She frowned, already suspecting what was happening, and again pulled from his grasp, jogging back to the archway entrance that overlooked the main hall.

Quite a crowd had suddenly gathered, people of all ages pushed and shoved, trying to get something—or someone—'s attention. With a sigh, the green haired girl made her way into the growing crowd, very uncomfortable being this close with strangers. She was nearing the center when a hand latched onto hers and a voice whispered in her ear.

"Got a plan, brave commander~?" She shrugged in reply, knowing that he wouldn't hear her if she spoke. He held onto her as they slipped through the mob with much less ease than she would've hoped for.

As they hit the clearing in the center, they were met by a terrified hikiNEET and a tired-looking idol. When Momo finally locked eyes with the two others members of the Dan, she smiled slightly, obviously relieved that the one girl that could null her power had shown up to rescue her.

The orange haired girl opened her mouth to call out to them but stopped and pulled out her phone, having heard some sort of noise. Ene floated around on her screen, quickly flipping to the camera to survey the surroundings. Momo quickly explained the situation to the cyber girl, who took it upon herself to get rid of the crowd. Swimming off of the screen, her voice overtook the speakers, shutting off the elevator type music that filled the building.

"Testing, testing!" she called out, grabbing the attention of nearly everyone in the room, "Can you hear me?" She giggled and then added, "Of course you can… Might wanna plug your ears~" With that, she let out a screech that grew louder by the second, hands flew to cover ears and many began fleeing from the building. As the chaos ensued, the four congregated members of the Dan scoured the surging mass of people to locate the others. Moving carefully through the mass, they gathered and retreated to the van, Kido's eye ability constantly in use.

Reaching the vehicle, they began to pile in, taking their seats, however, there was a member missing. Kido sighed, grumbled and looked around, and thinking that maybe he was only a few steps behind them. But he wasn't.

"Where's Hibiya?" The green haired girl sprinted back to go look for him, finding it difficult to not bump into anyone as they swerved unpredictably.

Hibiya sat on one of the benches just inside the entrance, watching the mob as they frantically attempted to find their loved ones that they had originally come in with. The cyber girl's scream had long since died down to a low roar. As the minutes on the clock across from him ticked by, he wondered if the Dan were even still looking for him or if they had forgotten and simply left. He sighed deeply, resting his head on his hand.

"Hibiya!" He looked up as a familiar, yet not at all sweet, voice called out his name. However, he didn't see the person he expected. She was nowhere to be found. He cocked his head in confusion, continuing to look in all directions until and hand—and then a tall figure—appeared in front of him. Kido reached her hand out to him, her lips pressed into a tight line.

"We haven't got all day, come on," she yelled, needing to be heard of the ruckus. He nodded, took her hand and stood. As soon as he was on his feet, his arm was wrenched painfully and he had to run to keep even within a few feet of the girl pulling him along. He noticed that she reactivated her red eyes and so he made sure to not slam into anyone.

Finally, upon reaching the van, the two climbed in, the Danchou taking the driver's seat. As she started the car, a voice called from the back.

"What about Ene-chan…?" There was a mutter of explanation from Shintaro about how they didn't need to wait for her and then the white haired android was satisfied.

Momo began profusely apologizing to everyone as they made their way onto the highway. Of course, no one blamed the idol; she couldn't quite control her ability yet so occasionally things like this were expected to happen. The only problem with that was that Kido had to be constantly at her side so no severe accidents would occur, putting strain on the leader. When all the apologies were done being exchanged, the van became rather quiet until the deceiver turned on the radio and the silence was again filled.

It was fine at first, the music was not something she would normally listen to but Kido was initially able to drown it out. However, about halfway to the hotel, her eyes began to burn, the sound magnified, and her eyesight began to waver.

"Crap." It wasn't more than a whisper but it caught Kano's attention, he watched her for a while before turning away, not understanding what she had mumbled for.

They pulled into the hotel parking lot and began filing out, the green haired girl's step wobbling ever so slightly. Her vision became blurry and in a vain attempt, she reached for the sleeve of her companion's black parka. He turned just in time for her to collapse into him, everything going dark.


	11. The Worrying of the Greatest Liar

The blonde paced around the hotel room, glancing often at the unconscious girl on the bed. He watched as her chest rose and fell in long, steady breaths. At least she was still breathing. He'd rushed her inside within a moment of her fainting and hadn't stopped to wait for the others to react. Surely they would be confused and worried as well… He sighed, sitting heavily down in the chair beside the bed. The boy rubbed his eyes, feeling more miserable than he had in a long while. He was almost certain that the reason for her fainting was simply because she had pushed herself too hard as she'd done when they were younger but there was a small patch of doubt in the back of his thoughts, scratching at his mind that said something more serious was the cause. Kano shook his head, looking back up at her again.

She shifted slightly, her face turned towards him, peacefully sleeping.

She needs the rest… he thought, a small smile played at his lips as he examined her child-like expression—much different from the stony one she usually wore. Again, he stood and wandered over to the bed, sitting on the small strip of mattress beside her. Then, carefully reaching out, he took a strand of her hair in his hand, mumbled something to himself which he'd never admit to saying and leaned closer, leaving a light kiss on her forehead. A flush of pink filled his cheeks and he moved away. The deceiver chuckled softly with embarrassment at his own actions when a loud knock on the door startled him.

He quickly got to his feet and answered the door. The rest of the Dan greeted him and began rapid-firing questions concerning the girl still asleep. Kano plastered on a mask an explained the situation, leaving out anything that would cause them to want to see her. He wanted time with her—without them.

However, the group decided it would be best if they headed to the store and picked up some form of medicine so that they could help when she awoke. The blonde agreed and they made their way to the van as Kano finished up a few things. He walked back into the hotel room and checked again on the girl, sighed, and then grabbed his parka, following the rest of the Blindfold Gang.

Seto drove with the deceiver in shotgun, Marry, Momo, and Hibiya in the first row, and Shintaro and Konoha in the far back. It took longer than they'd planned to find the nearest convenience store but when they'd found it, they parked and went inside. As soon as they'd stepped foot into the store, the group split off in different directions, searching for what they needed. Members two, four, five, and eight wandered off to the left, six, seven, and nine headed to the right. This left Kano on his own.

He pulled his black hood up over his head, slipping off his mask for a while as he made his way down the middle of the store. Near the back, he encountered the health section and smirked softly, glad that he was the one to find it. As he walked up and down the aisles looking for some sort of pain killer, he let his thoughts flow freely—thinking primarily about his counterpart that they'd left back at the hotel.

Finally, he located what he'd been looking for and grabbing a bottle. Then, thinking it over, he headed to a nearby aisle and grabbed two sodas and a chocolate bar. He shrugged.

Maybe she'll need some sugar… he thought as he rounded the corner into the main stretch of aisles. As he walked, he tucked the bottles and the candy bar in his arm and pulled out his phone, hoping to see a message from the gang's leader. Sadly, there was nothing listed and he sighed, slipping the device back into his pocket. He slid the items into a more comfortable carrying position and was about to turn the next corner when a familiar voice called out to him.

"Kano-saaaaan!" He spun on his heels, smiling at the two girls that approached him. The orange haired girl carried a large rectangular object in her arms and the small medusa carried a large, plastic, pink water bottle. The deceiver couldn't help but laugh at them.

"What do you have there?" he questioned as they got closer. He almost regretted asking though when the idol's eyes lit up brightly.

"A tent!" She grinned proudly as she held the boxed object out so he could see the small printed image of what the tent supposedly looked like. He leaned forwards and scanned the information on the sticker quickly before leaning back again. Movement from the fluffy haired girl caught his attention and he looked over at her.

"We thought it'd be fun to go camping…" the smaller girl said quietly, "that way Danchou doesn't need to use her ability for a while… she can rest because we won't be near anyone…" With a smile, she clutched tighter to the bottle she held.

"Ah, you're right, that would be fun…" he started, "but that tent isn't nearly big enough, Momo-chan…" Her eyes widened and she looked down at the object in her arms, inspecting it thoroughly.

"How can you tell?"

"It says right here," he laughed and pointed to a spot on the box where it listed the contents as being one two-person tent. "We'd need at least four to accommodate for all of us…" A visible disappointment descended above the two girls as they realized their mistake.

"But, let's go talk to the others before we rule out the idea, okay?" He smiled, bringing their moods back to their previous excitement. The girls ran quickly ahead of him, glancing down each aisle they passed to find the rest of their party. After finding everyone and coming to a general consensus, they checked out and left. As they made their way back into the hotel, Kano took larger strides than he would normally, needing to check on the jade haired girl still presumably asleep.

He was quiet when unlocking the door and swung it open with great care as to not let it creak on its hinges. However, his concerns were forgotten as he saw the peacefully sleeping figure now semi-tangled in the blankets. With a sigh, he began to set the plastic sack down that he was carrying but was stopped as a knock on the door sounded and he left the room again, bag still in hand, to check out what madness has ensued in the other rooms.


	12. The Waking of Sleeping Tsubomi

Worn, charcoal colored eyes opened slowly. The girl that said eyes belonged to groaned as the light filtered into her vision through her eyelashes. She heard footsteps and then a loud thud followed by the closing of the door. Squeezing her eyes shut again, she lifted her hand to rub her face. A splitting pain had taken residence in the forward part of her skull and even moving slightly caused it to intensify. To say she was miserable was an understatement.

Again she attempted to open her eyes, gritting her teeth as the pain again flared. She glanced around, not wanting to move her head any more than absolutely necessary. Somehow, she'd gotten back to the hotel room that she shared with Shuuya.

Concentrating, she managed to remember what had happened.

Well, she sighed as she thought to herself, that explains the headache. She'd experienced this kind of migraine before and it was always associated with times when she wasn't careful and used her ability for too long. Glancing around again, she noted that her 'roommate' was nowhere to be found. Maybe he's in the bathroom. I should let him know that I'm awake… She went to call out but her voice wouldn't work and her mouth and throat were dry. How long have I been unconscious..? she wondered, knowing that previous experiences had left her asleep for days.

I shouldn't make them worry, I'm the leader, I need to be strong.

Carefully sitting up, she swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood, wobbling and clinging to the wall for support. As she inched her way forward, legs threatening to give out, her only thoughts were scolding herself for letting this happen. She'd managed to make it to the short hallway that led to the exit and had her hand on the doorknob when it swung inwards violently and sent her sprawling back with a clatter. Unable to make a sound without her voice, she glared up at the person that had entered.

Kano's expression turned panicky and he scrambled to help her up, helping more than was necessary as he brushed off her sleeves and tidied her hair. She hissed—the best sound she could make—and squirmed away from him, sending a punch to his gut. He buckled over.

"Sorry, sorry," he mumbled, a strained smile on his face. Then, looking up at her with his beautiful golden eyes he asked, "Are you feeling better?" She nodded and his smile became genuine.

"That's good," he started, "you had me—us worried there when you just suddenly collapsed." He kept smiling for a few moments before it slowly faded and he became silent. When he suddenly went quiet, her eyes narrowed, something was obviously wrong if he wasn't going to make a joke about how weak she was for fainting. She studied him for a minute and it began to make sense to her. As he laughed nervously and picked up the bag he'd been holding onto, she realized with a heart wrenching pain that she really had frightened him and that what she saw written on his face where his true emotions. Her expression softened at this and she pulled him into a hug, piecing together the last fragments of her voice. Though she planned to apologize or something a little more caring, the one word she managed fit oddly but at the same time, fit perfectly.

"Idiot," she muttered, her voice rough and scratchy, not ideal in any sense of the word. He froze momentarily but then chuckled again, hugging her back with his one free arm. The feeling of being so close to him made her cheeks flush softly but not enough that she thought he could notice. The embrace was nice and comfortable, she felt safe in his arms and though she'd never admit it to anyone, she was ultimately disappointed when the rest of the Dan appeared in the doorway, causing the two to break apart, Kano seemed to be almost more annoyed by the others' arrival. Momo skipped forward, grabbing onto the leader's arm, instantly bombarding her with questions about how she felt. The questions were just intrusive enough that they made Kido uncomfortable but she complied. Without a voice, she nodded and shook her head when necessary, desperately hoping that the idol would become bored and move on to another topic.

Finally, when it seemed that she might be slowing down, her eyes light up with a gleam that almost made Kido fearful. Momo loosened her grip and bounced out in front of her, grasping both of Kido's hands.

"Oh! Danchou!" she began—never a very good thought starter, "You should see what we did!" The sinking feeling began to flood into the green haired girl's chest and she only smiled nervously, not really feeling up to whatever weird concoction that the tasteless idol had created. Though she was successful as an idol, Kisaragi Momo had no real sense of taste and was not allowed in the kitchen because of it. If she got excited by something, it sent a shiver down each of the members' spines and they attempted to steer clear of the idol until she was over it. Typically, it was either Kido or Shintaro that had to talk Momo out of her dangerous ideas so without Kido to tell her to stop, there was a high possibility of something catastrophic having happened while the leader was unconscious. Unfortunately, she wasn't allowed to think on it much more before she was violently dragged through the halls on a journey to possible food poisoning—it'd been known to happen.

Kido was almost pleasantly surprised though when she found out that the mischief had no food involved. She was concerned however about the fact the other three hotel rooms now housed obnoxiously large tents that seemed to swallow all space in the room. The leader frowned deeply, unsure of what insanity had come over the rest of the Dan in the time she'd been asleep… how long had she been asleep? She found herself wondering again. Surely it had been enough time for them to go out and purchase these. It was then that the orange haired girl excitedly jumped into the nearest tent, causing the fabric to make a strange sliding sound. She then peeked out of the front flap at the jade haired girl still standing at the door. A great smile spread across her face and she seemed giddy, practically vibrating.

"Isn't it great, Danchou-san?" Momo grinned brightly, "We thought we could all go camping together!" As much as Kido hated the idea, the innocent excitement of the girl made her feel guilty about opposing the plan. Besides, it couldn't have been cheap to purchase—how many were there? 1, 2, 3, 4?—tents for the Dan's use. Kido knew that the expenses for this trip were paid for by Momo's job but she still felt terrible about mooching too much over things that weren't necessities. She sighed but managed a smile.

"S-Sounds fun…" she mumbled.


	13. What a Lovely Nature Walk

It was decided that the Dan would split into the same four groups for their short camping expedition as they were split in the hotel rooms. As they pitched their tents, Ene stayed almost silent on Shintaro's phone, in an attempt to conserve power. Momo had suggested they camp for three days but nearly everyone opposed the idea with Kido saying that it depended on how well the first day went and then they would see. After everything was set up, the group sat on the inside of the tent circle and began discussing what they could possibly do while out in the wild. A few ideas were thrown out but were rejected by one person or another. Seemingly an hour passed before the option of a short nature walk was presented. Everyone seemed to agree that it was a good idea and that it wouldn't be too difficult for anyone, including Marry—as long as the group didn't move too fast for her.

Having finally settled on their outdoor activity, they prepared to go: grabbing water bottles, a few handfuls of granola bars, hats to keep the sun out of their eyes, and bug spray. However, as the eight approached the narrow path that lead away from the campsite, Shintaro crept a few paces backwards, hoping they wouldn't notice if he stayed where he was. Unfortunately for him, the deceiver—having been walking just ahead of him in the line—turned around and grinned his trademark mischievous smile, letting the shut-in know that Kano was aware of his small backtrack in steps.

"Eh? Shintaro-kun?" he began, irritatingly adding –kun to the end of Shintaro's name, "Where are you going? We're all going this way though…" The blonde smirked wickedly and watched as Momo turned to see what was going on.

"Onii-chan… Don't even think of heading back to camp." Her tone would have been almost deadly sounding—had she not been his sister. Still, he sighed, and gave up on his escape plan, knowing that if he argued, she'd bring up the fact that he had put on some pounds in the last few years of being a hikikomori. That was one topic, he didn't want to be approached currently. So, he sucked it up and followed the group.

The Dan had been walking for a short while and Shintaro was on the verge of collapse. His breaths were noticeably heavier than anyone else's in the group—save it be Marry who ended up replacing the backpack on Seto's back. The NEET looked around the misfit group; Kido and Seto were at the head, followed by Hibiya and Momo, Kano and Konoha, and finally, himself. As he watched his sister interacting with the elementary school boy, there was a flash in his memory of the scarf wearing hero that was once part of his life. He swallowed the pain that the image brought and in an attempt to push it from his mind, he glanced around again at the others. They were all chatting and cracking jokes, enjoying their time together… nothing terribly out of the ordinary. Konoha walked directly ahead of him and was mindlessly chewing on an energy bar. Shintaro chuckled slightly at the clueless android boy and shook his head softly, knowing that they'd be out of granola bars by the time they returned to their campsite.

Beside the gentle white haired boy, the deceiver was unusually quiet. The NEET noticed this and watched the blonde for a minute, trying to figure out what was wrong with him. Kano seemed to be deep in thought but Shintaro didn't particularly feel like asking, he was far more curious about where they were headed on this "nature walk".

There was always the possibility that they had no destination in mind and they were merely wandering aimlessly, he thought to himself with a sigh. The air was filled with Momo's giggles, Hibiya's unamused noises, Konoha's crunching, Marry's questions, and the occasional breaking branch. It was peaceful and comfortable; Shintaro found himself wishing that he'd met these people sooner in his life.

The pathway was not the cleanest and at one point, Hibiya tripped on a stray tree root, nearly face planting into the ground before Konoha reached out and grabbed him by the collar of his white vest.

Nobody had spoken for quite some time when from the front of the group, there was the sound of a deep rumbling laughter followed by a much softer, almost held in chuckle. Seto tilted his head back and laughed loudly, scaring a few birds from their branches in the trees above and Kido smiled brightly, her shoulders shaking slightly as she attempted to contain her amusement as something the raven haired boy had shared with her. Kido's smile was certainly a rare sight and there was a collective moment of amazement. A deep scarlet flushed the deceiver's cheeks as her watched her but he recovered almost immediately and the red moved to his cat-shaped irises. Shintaro's foot caught on something and he looked down at the ground to see what it was; in the motion of looking down, however, he caught a glimpse of Kano's reddened face.

The jersey wearing boy blinked, confused at seeing such a helpless expression on the shorter boy's face and desperately tried to fit the pieces of what just happened together in his head. Finally it clicked and he almost tripped over a branch as he processed the idea. He had to admit that it now all seemed to make sense though… from the rooming arrangements to the karaoke and on. The hikiNEET stayed quiet as the group made it to their destination then, he grabbed Kano by the arm. The blonde grinned unnaturally and made some form of idiotic joke but Shintaro shrugged it off.

"Hey, Kano…" he started, not sure if he really wanted to approach him about the subject, "Can we talk for a minute?"

"Eh? But of course, Shintaro-kun~" the blonde laughed, following him to a spot a ways from the others.

"I need to ask you a question…"

"Go right ahead then, I'm waiting."

"You're in love with Kido, aren't you?"


	14. Did You Really Want An Answer, Shinshin?

As though Marry had suddenly used her powers on him, Kano stood frozen. His smile faltering slightly, eyes ever so subtly growing wider, staring blankly at the boy in front of him. This wasn't happening… this was all just some kind of twisted dream that he must be having. He didn't have feelings for her—he was almost certain of that. Almost. Shintaro sighed, shaking his head and looking at the ground. The black haired boy shrugged and scratched the back of his head briefly before looking back at Kano.

"Don't worry… I won't tell her… I just wanted to know for sure." The red-clad boy patted his shoulder and left, rejoining the group. The deceiver stood for what felt like an eternity, staring at the place the boy had just been standing, trying to process the answer to that question.

He knew what answer he wanted to give, for his own sake and for hers… but it wouldn't be the truth. Even such a disgraceful, dirty liar such as himself knew there were some things that couldn't be fabricated. After all these years with her, Kano was aware of the answer that could either solve every problem, or cause his world to crumble around him. As he tossed the question around in his head, he kept silent and still.

He heard the faint footsteps of someone approaching and assumed it was the same male that had just walked away. However, he was surprised—and nearly jumped from his skin—as a familiar voice spoke and the face to match it came into his vision.

"Oi… Kano?" The green haired girl leaned somewhat over to the side in order to see his face more clearly. "You okay?"

He blinked a few times, jumped, and made some form of fearful noise that he would later remember as being very unattractive, face flooding with a deep red blush. She frowned, standing up straight, and put her hand on his forehead to check for a fever. He squirmed away, not currently wanting to be anywhere near her. She seemed to realize this and she stepped away from him, her face turned gently hurt and then hardened into her typical stoney expression. She huffed and when she spoke again, any caring had left her voice.

"Well, fine." Roughly, she spun on her heels and stormed back to the others, sitting with her back to him on a log, beside Momo. Kano stood dumbstruck for the second time, even more unsure of what to do, mood plummeting as he realized what he'd done. He was—in every sense of the word—confused. He didn't want there to be distance between the two of them but he wasn't ready to admit to any feelings yet—in fact, he was too scared to admit to them.

It wasn't until Seto called out to him that his feet were finally uprooted from the ground and he stiffly made his way over to them and sat beside the much taller boy on the grassy ground. A few of the other members had wandered off nearby but quickly wandered over and found seating for themselves in a semi-circular shape.

Once everyone had sat, Seto began rambling about the route that they would take back to their camp and what they would do once they got there. The path decided was nearly the same as the one they had come up on but included a few detours here and there so that those that were less in shape, wouldn't have to suffer as badly. When this was announced, both Shintaro and Marry sighed with relief at their fortune. Kano attempted to listen but after a moment resorted to watching the green haired girl across the circle. She was preoccupied speaking with the idol but looked up between sentences, noticed his gaze, and glared viciously at him for a moment. Kano frowned and shifted his gaze to the ground, angrily picked at a blade of grass that stuck out above the rest. When he had successfully torn the piece into minuscule green sections, he tossed them back onto the ground and looked over at Seto, finally finished with his speech. The raven haired boy smiled and patted Kano on the back before standing and stretching.

"Well, let's get going, then!" he chuckled, his golden eyes shining brightly, "We don't want to have to walk through the woods after dark." Kano sighed again, pushing up off the ground with his hands. The blonde crouched briefly and then stood, glancing again at Kido.

She stood with the majority of her body weight shifted onto her right leg and her arms were tightly crossed against her chest. Her expression was dark and the image itself reminded Kano of when they were still living at the Tateyama's just after Ayaka had died. Kido had carried herself in a very similar manner as to how she did now: arrogant and violent. It wasn't an uncommon sight… but it also wasn't one that the deceiver cared to see. To him it meant that he'd screwed up enough to make her close herself off from him.

He shook his head and began to follow the others as they made their way back to the original campsite; all the while, he wondered how he could possibly fix the damage he'd caused before they once again had to sleep in close proximity.

Kido was one of the last out of the clearing, followed only by Konoha who was still finishing off his last granola bar. She walked slowly but, with her long stride length, she kept up easily with the others. Every few meters, she found herself growing more irritated, however, because as hard as she tried, she couldn't possibly think of any reason for Kano to act the way he had earlier. Perhaps she let it get to her more than she should've… but she was frustrated that she felt he was pulling himself away from her again only to hide behind his skillfully crafted mask. She would've loved to finally break that stupid façade he so dutifully hid himself behind. She let out a sigh, much louder than she'd planned and gained the attention of the orange haired idol ahead of her.

"Danchou?" Momo began, picking up that something was wrong, "You okay?"

Blinking a few times to register the question, Kido finally smiled—an awkward, forced smile—and spoke.

"Ah, yeah, I'm fine… sorry…" Momo studied her face for a second and then grinned.

"Well, if you say so, then I believe you… maybe you're just dehydrated?" She suggested in a friendly tone, offering one of her water bottles to the commander.

"Oh… uh, thanks but I still have some of my own…" her sentence ended prematurely as she reached to grab her water bottle and found the pocket of her backpack to contain no such thing. "Never mind…" Kido sighed reluctantly and took the unopened bottle, twisting the cap and hearing the satisfying cracking sound as the lid eased open for the first time. She took a large swig and swallowed, feeling the refreshing sensation of the liquid as it slid down her throat. Maybe she was over thinking this… most of the group was out of shape and so there was always the possibility that Kano was just tired… Yeah... she decided, that had to be it.

As she finally settled on that idea, she noticed they'd made it back to their camp. The tents were still sat in the oddly shaped semi-circle that they'd been set up in and two of them had already been claimed. The farthest from the forest's edge sat empty, it's door zipped entirely up, and Kido headed for that one. The next tent held an already exhausted red-jerseyed boy; the one beside the Kisaragi tent housed the tall, green-clad boy and his petite medusa, leaving the last tent for the android boy and Hibiya.

Kido carefully unzipped the door of the tent she'd chosen to sleep in and took her shoes off before stepping inside. It was surprisingly big and the ground it had been placed on was clear of rocks and rough grass. She set her backpack in one of the far corners and plopped down, pulling her knees up to her chest and yawning. The sky outside was slowly but surely turning orange in color and she took note as—presumably Seto—began a small campfire in the middle of the tent circle. The green haired girl had to admit that this vacation hadn't been that terrible so far and that she might even consider going camping with the group the next time the opportunity arose.

A small smile spread on her lips as she imagined how the next trip might go… It was almost overwhelming to think that the gang which Ayano started could have brought so many people together. She almost couldn't remember what it was like to be alone and that in itself was a happy thought, one that she found herself thinking as her eyelids grew heavy. She carefully shifted to lay down and before she could stop it, she fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original A/N: Hello again, it's been a while, hasn't it? I was pretty heavily stressed out over this chapter in particular but after getting some advice, I found myself writing waaaay more than normal. This chapter actually ended up having to be split into two separate parts because I wrote 1,000 more words than my word limit that I set for myself. So, expect to see the second half of the chapter very soon!
> 
> Also, I've begun thinking that maybe it's getting close to being time to wrap up this story... as much as I would like it to continue for much longer... I have already set out how it will end but I'd like your opinions as the readers. If you are willing to stick around and finish the story-no matter how long it may end up-I'd love to hear that but I would also like to know if you're maybe getting a little tired of it. I know this is the fourteenth chapter and that's probably fairly long for a multi-chapter story (especially for Kagepro) but I still have many more ideas to complete in upcoming chapters.
> 
> As always, thank you very much for reading, I love hearing your thoughts and opinions on the story and I'm always open for feedback! I'm very appreciative that you've all taken interest in my writing.


	15. Misunderstood Midnight Snacks

Finally, after a few hours of wandering, dreading having to face the commander, Kano quietly zipped open the tent's door that had been closed when the green haired girl changed into her pajamas. As the fabric of the opening fell inwards, the bright moonlight filtered in and he could see her curled up on her side, asleep. She looked serene and he almost forgot the day's earlier events just watching her. He slipped off his boots silently—a necessary trick for his midnight strolls back home—and made his way into the tent, closing the flap behind him and laying down beside Kido. Her breaths were steady and made a soft, gentle sound when she exhaled. The noise was soothing; Kano smiled at her and chuckled quietly as she shifted her position.

Taking matters into his own hands, he rolled onto his side and pulled her the few inches over to him, wrapping his arms carefully around her. He fully realized how badly it could end for him if she were to wake up and still be angry but he thought that it could maybe silently substitute for an apology. He was about to drift off to sleep when he felt her wrap her arms around his waist, burying her face in his chest. Without meaning to, he felt his face heat up and tried desperately to steady his heartbeat so she wouldn't feel the awkward pounding through his chest.

Kano let out a breath, eventually slowing his heartbeat down enough where he could begin to feel the fatigue that pulled at him and soon fell asleep.

It wasn't until somewhere around two o'clock in the morning that Kido opened her groggy eyes, her face pressed up against something warm and almost plush… but why was it moving? She sat back, confused by the first glance of sandy brown fabric but looking up, she got the explanation she was looking for. Just like a few nights before, he slept with his mouth ever so slightly agape and his long eyelashes resting against his cheeks. This time, however, she didn't lean forward to kiss him. She probably would've had there not been the loud rustling outside that caught her attention.

Sucking in her breath, she stayed as still as she could be, straining to hear where the noise was coming from. As the sound got louder though, she became paranoid that some woodland animal had made its way to their camp. Kido gently removed the blonde's arms from around her and with as little noise as possible, crawled out of the tent. She clumsily pulled her shoes on—they felt odd without socks on—and fumbled around on the ground for a moment, rummaging for some kind of a weapon. Her best guess was that it was just some raccoon that had come looking for food but she couldn't rule out the other—more terrifying—options.

At last, something painfully sharp pushed against her fingers and she grabbed it. The stick felt as though it was no more than maybe five inches long and though the bark was rough and jagged, the end was blunt and wouldn't harm the animal—whatever it was. As she quickly stood back up, the rustling sound momentarily stopped, a few leaves crunched and then the sound began again.

Armed, Kido slowly crept along the edge of the make-shift fire pit and raised the stick as if it were a baseball bat. She trembled and her footsteps were shaky, but she had to get rid of the creature for the sake of the Dan. Her breaths were unsteady and when she heard the sound finally right in front of her, she squeezed her eyes shut and, though not as powerfully as she could have, brought the stick straight down onto whatever the thing was. The rustling stopped again and she jumped backwards, worried that she may have angered it and therefore put herself in danger.

However, all she heard was a small, confused, 'ow'. She blinked and fumbled in her pocket for her phone, pressed the button and causing the screen to light up. After shaking off the initial blindness, she turned the screen to face the source of the familiar voice and was greeted by large, pale pink eyes squinting at the light as she had moments before. She sighed heavily and dropped the stick on the ground.

"K-Konoha?" she began, utterly exasperated, "What are you doing up?"

"I was hungry…" he mumbled, mouth again full of food.

"Alright… well… go to bed, okay? You can eat in your tent…" As her eyes readjusted to the darkness, she saw him nod, his white hair hanging loosely and out of its usual ponytail. The boy gathered up the snacks noisily and stood, looking down at Kido and yawning. She chuckled, very embarrassed having mistaken him for some animal and sighed again.

"Sorry for hitting you, Konoha…" she reached up and pat his head—something the Dan had recently found out he enjoyed—and then stretched, her heart still racing with adrenaline.

"It's okay," he smiled, "it didn't hurt." He yawned again, his rose colored eyes turning glossy and he rubbed at them, "I'm tired…"

"Good night, Konoha…" Kido said, prompting him to return to his tent, and then turned to head to her own tent. She was about four steps away from the tent she was sharing when her eyes registered a grinning blonde that was peeking out from the inside.

"That wasn't very leader-like of you, Kido~"

"Sh-shut up! How much of that did you see?" her face was red and she knew it. She was already embarrassed, he didn't need to make her feel worse.

"Only all of it~" She growled softly and pulled off her shoe, chucking it at his face. He ducked the first one and as he was about to begin bragging, the second made contact. Kano fell backwards dramatically, laughing at how flustered she was, and collected her shoes, setting them outside the door of the tent. She smacked the side of his head as she crawled back in and frowned, laying down with her back to him.

She was  _never_  going camping again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original A/N: Alrighty, so here is the second half of the chapter finally~ I'm so glad this story has received so much positive attention. It's been tentatively decided that Road Trip will go on for around ten more chapters before wrapping up so that it doesn't drag on for too long... However, if I get to the point where I have more ideas, it may go on for slightly longer.
> 
> I'm honestly so sad watching my story end... this project is like my child and it was never even supposed to go this far... So, it'd be a lie if I said I'm not going to cry when the final chapter is posted. Thank you all so much and I hope you'll enjoy my future stories as well.


	16. An Exchange Over Colas

It was around mid-day when the Mekakushi Dan made it back to the hotel they were staying in; all the camping supplies stuffed hastily in the back of the van. The green haired girl in the passenger’s seat let out a huff when they pulled into the parking lot and was the first one out of the vehicle. She stretched her back and turned to watch as the others piled out onto the concrete. The members moved and stretched, trying to get their sore muscles to feel a little better. Everyone was a bit sluggish as they entered through the front door and there was a collective sigh of relief as the blast of cold air hit their tired forms.

            Looking behind her, Kido couldn’t help but chuckle at their behaviors as she watched the members of _her_ little gang, her lips curling up into a smile. She then found herself thinking just one thought—that she was finally happy. Little did she know, there was another pair of eyes, directed at her.

            Shintaro had trailed behind the group a little and was merely relishing in the air conditioning available upon entry to the lobby. Ene had long since turned his phone back on and was rambling about something unnecessary as she always did. The red-clad boy rolled his eyes and scanned the large, open area for a vending machine—hoping to be able to grab a cola before the group headed out again. Now that he really thought about it, he realized that nobody but Momo had come up with any of the ideas for activities they would—or had—done on this trip. The black-haired boy frowned, trying to figure out if he even _had_ anything to suggest.

            With an exhale from his nose, as though he were holding in a laugh, he decided that he didn’t have anything and would therefore leave the planning to the others. He scanned their faces; Konoha didn’t seem fazed by the heat at all and in fact seemed clueless about nearly everything. _He’s a good guy._ With a nod, Shintaro moved on to the next face; Hibiya was standing next to his bright-haired sister and the elementary student rolled his eyes as the idol practically bounced beside him. _How can she still have that much energy? I almost pity Hibiya…_

            After those two, Shintaro shifted his focus to the mass of cream colored hair that faced towards him and the girl it belonged to. Seto was cheerfully smiling and laughing good-naturedly while Marry stood in front of him, making some face that Shintaro couldn’t see. _What love-birds…_ he thought sarcastically, the sight bringing up regretful memories again.

            Could he even have said anything on the subject to that girl from so long ago? Would he have been able to be happy like that if she hadn’t fallen from his life? He shoved the thought away and continued his analyzing.

            Finally, he came to the last two members of the Dan. Standing a little ways apart from the others, the Danchou smiled gently—something Shintaro couldn’t recall having seen before—at the chaos of the group. Beside her, a pair of golden eyes observed the girl, a smile playing on the deceiver’s lips as well.

            _Those two_ … he frowned. He had already confirmed how the blonde felt… but the red-jersey wearing boy decided he needed to know the other side too. So, as everyone began to file down the hallway, Shintaro hung back, thinking of a way to speak privately with Kido without coming across wrong.

            His chance came when she also split from the group and headed to the vending machine that he’d eyed earlier.

            Kido strolled across the room to the tall machine and carefully pulled her wallet from her pocket. She put the money in and pressed the button of the desired drink. However, as she grabbed the bottle, a person stepped into the corner of her vision. She stood, jumping slightly as she was met by the hikiNEET.

            “A-Ah! Sh-Shintaro?” She frowned, “Did you need something?”

            “Uh…” His mind blanked, and she watched him, waiting patiently for an answer. What had he planned on asking her…? He knew it was something important, but as soon as she’d acknowledged him, he lost his nerve and with it, his question.

            “Well… I’m gonna follow the others… you coming?” she offered, feeling sorry for the boy in front of her, beginning to turn away from him.

            “O-Oh! Wait!” Reaching out, he grabbed her arm, “C-Can we talk for a minute?” She blinked, cheeks turning slightly pink before she nodded hesitantly.

            Shintaro led her a little ways away from the vending machine—after getting his own cola to quench his thirst—and took a long drink of the bubbling liquid.

            “So…” she began, clearing her throat, “What did you wanna talk about…?” She would be lying if she said she wasn’t a little apprehensive about the directions this conversation could go.  Shintaro took a deep breath, capping his bottle and looking at her.

            “Can I ask you a pretty personal question?”

            “Sure...” By this point, she was considering making up a reason for her to excuse herself. She wasn’t sure what he meant by _personal_ but her intuition certainly told her it wasn’t going to be good.

            “Do you have anyone you like?” That’s when it clicked for her—or so she thought—and her shoulders relaxed, chuckling nervously. Surely, she wasn’t going to have to reject him while the gang was having such a nice vacation… that would put a damper on the whole trip—for him _and_ for her.

            “Oh, uh… Hey, look…” she mumbled at first, finding it hard to get the words out that would almost certainly break the poor virgin’s heart, “You’re a nice guy and all but…”

            “Wait, no, I-I’m not confessing to you!” The hikiNEET’s face turned a deep shade of crimson, bright enough to match perfectly with his signature jacket.

            “Eh?”

            “I-I-I was just curious is all!” He stumbled over his words, only adding to his apparent shame and embarrassment. It wasn’t exactly helping his claim.

            “A-Ah, in that case…” she exhaled shakily, attempting to come off as relieved but also slightly embarrassed.

            “What I was… uh, trying to ask…” Shintaro fidgeted, “was… do you like Kano?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I'm so sorry for how long I've made you wait for this chapter... I literally feel so terrible!
> 
> I've had the plan for this chapter figured out for some time now... but the words were escaping me/sigh
> 
> Thank you as always for reading and please leave a review with your opinion of the chapter~ I love hearing what you guys think!
> 
> And thank you again for sticking with me and this story!


	17. Irrational Danchous and an Overdue Rest

Instinctively, Kido let out some form of snort—trying to play off the question despite the rising temperature of her face.

            “Me? Like Kano?” She laughed—the sound coming out far more strained than expected—and covered her face as if wiping away tears. If it always worked for the deceiver, surely it would work for her… maybe. Shintaro blinked, seemingly uncomfortable with her over-dramatic reaction.

            “I-I, uh, was just wondering is all… forget I asked, okay?” He scratched the back of his head, adding a hint of his own nervous laughter. _This was not how this conversation was supposed to go…_ he thought bleakly to himself, having forgotten how irrational the danchou became when cornered. He was about to say something more when a figure across the room called to the pair, well, to Kido, at least.

            As if the poor green-haired girl’s face wasn’t red enough, it deepened in shade as her eyes shot towards the source. Kano stood grinning in the hallway’s entrance, his eyes shimmering—noticeable to Shintaro even from this distance.

            _Lemme guess,_ he sighed in resign, watching Kido make her way to the blonde, _I overstepped my boundaries…_ He followed them reluctantly down the hallway to the rooms that everyone else had disappeared into. Shintaro found his question being answered when they reached the rooms; holding open the door for their commander, Kano grinned at her. As she passed however, his look became stern and his stance defensive. The red-clad boy blinked and shuddered at the unusually venomous glare that the deceiver gave off.

            Inside, the Mekakushi Dan was spread from the bunk beds of the middle-most room to the floor and then to the wall beneath the window. They sat in small pod-like groups, each having their own conversation—or in Hibiya and Konoha’s case, lack thereof. As the last three members entered, the others glanced in their direction before resuming their chats. The black-haired boy wondered what they were all talking about, but he didn’t care _that_ much.

            The room was crowded but surprisingly, Shintaro didn’t hate the mindless chatter and hot temperature. Konoha sat on the bottom bunk bed and rested his head back against the wall, mouth hanging open and chest heaving with slow breaths. Hibiya sat beside him, looking as though he too was on the verge of sleep. Seto sat opposite Hibiya on the corner of the bed near where Momo and Marry lounged on the floor. Shintaro was surprised the medusa wasn’t in Seto’s lap as-per-usual but was instead listening as Momo excitedly filled her in on trivial celebrity drama.

            Shintaro sighed, sitting on the unsused side of the bed and watching as the red-faced danchou stood awkwardly in the corner, hiding her face from the group with her bangs. Kano stood relatively close to her, cracking jokes and letting his mask do all the talking. Shintaro sighed again, checking his phone, curious as to why Ene had kept so quiet and found her reorganizing his apps.

            “Ene, what’re you doing?” He asked, his voice sounding bored when in reality he was just exhausted from all of the running around the group had done. She stopped, glancing briefly over her shoulder at him before turning back, speaking softly when she answered—not even loud enough to be heard. “Huh? What’d you say?”

            “Nevermind, Master, just forget it.” He frowned, first he’d managed to cross the deceiver—something that didn’t really bother him too much—and now Ene was acting strangely.

            “Sure…” he mumbled in reply, not wanting to overstep his boundaries, even if she did so every day. He knew better than to. Shintaro could feel as the exhaustion began to weigh heavily on his shoulders and he wished he could go sleep instead of having to deal with another activity. He rested his elbow on his knee and his cheek in his hand and as he watched the others, he drifted off, not realizing when he slumped over into the white-haired android boy.

            Momo laughed, stopping her conversation as she watched her brother helplessly overcome by sleep but she couldn’t help admitting that she was also rather tired. Perhaps they could just have a day to do nothing… _No!_ she thought, face constricting into a pained expression, _This is our vacation! We can’t laze around and do nothing!_

            “Momo-chan..?” The orange-haired girl’s eyes turned back to her best friend’s, “Is something wrong?” Marry smiled softly but her eyes looked confused.

            “Of course!” The idol grinned, grabbing Marry’s hands in her own, “I was just thinking how wasteful it would be to spend our vacation sleeping!”

            “You know,” A voice from the corner grabbed the attention of everyone in the room, the green-haired girl’s face still tinged lightly with red, “Kisaragi… don’t you think we could all take a little break from running around? Shintaro, Konoha, and Hibiya all look like they could use it.” _I could too,_ she added silently, hoping the younger Kisaragi would take the hint.

            Momo nodded after quick consideration, “Yeah, I suppose you’re right, Danchou…” She grinned at the leader, feeling fatigued herself and she turned to Marry again. The small, cream-haired girl yawned, leaning back against Seto’s knees.

            “I think I like that plan too…” With yet another vote for a rest day, the group came to a consensus and split ways so that everyone could nap and recover from the camping trip.

            Upon reaching their room, Kido quickly pulled off her hoodie—in no mood to roast to death while asleep—and slipped her shoes off by the door. She proceeded to the bed and climbed under the covers, snatching the remote to the tv and turning it to something she wouldn’t really watch, however, the blonde stood frozen by the door, his jealousy from earlier having calmed to a simmer.

            “Hey, Tsubomi,” he spoke as he pulled his boots off and rounded the corner to see her sitting on the bed, “Can I ask what the virgin NEET talked to you about?” He watched as Kido’s cheeks reddened again and she avoided all eye contact, trying to play it cool.

            “Nothing. It’s not important.” The boy could feel his blood boil—if it wasn’t important, why couldn’t she tell him of all people? Feeling the familiar burning in his eyes, he made his way over to sit beside her, much too close, he’d admit. She pushed away from him slightly, trying to keep her attention on the program that was playing.

            Kano eyed her, wanting nothing more than to give in and let himself be drawn to her. So, if only for a little while, he decided he’d let himself. He moved closer to her and this time, she sat still.

            Removing his eyes from the danchou for a minute, he attempted to understand what it was that had taken her attention when he felt it would be better directed at him.

            The television screen held a scene that was far too cliché for the deceiver’s tastes; a woman stood in the rain, a stranger—the attractive male love-interest, no doubt—held an umbrella out over her body while he became soaked in the downpour. A romance soon to blossom? He was sure of it.

            “How ironic…” Kano hadn’t realized he’d spoken again until he felt the girl beside him stir. Sure that she would ask what he meant, he was taken by surprise when instead, she moved just a little bit closer to him, resting her head on his shoulder. The blonde swallowed the butterflies that threatened to come up in his throat as he carefully rested his head atop hers.

            A sense of déjà vu washed over him as he held his hand out for her to take. Her hand moved slightly but the hesitation was obvious as she set her hand back down in her lap, away from his. She straightened her sitting position, removing her head from her shoulder; her attention was now no longer on the screen but it was also not on the deceiver. Her frowned, trying to piece together a plan before the moment was completely gone.

            “Tsubomi,” he called her name softly, resulting in her looking up at him—exactly what he’d wanted. Without waiting for her to ask what he wanted, he leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hey! So even though I'm a day late, here's the update I promised as part of Kano's bday present! I'm really sorry if you find this chapter isn't really as good as the others but I needed another chapter of just build-up/story progression. I hope you still enjoyed it though and please make sure to let me know what you think and even maybe suggest some things for the Dan to do in the remaining chapters! For now, I apologize again for how overdue this chapter is and hope you'll enjoy what I post from here on as well!


	18. Two Halves Make A Whole

It wasn’t long before Kano broke away from the kiss and as he did, he kept his eyes closed and tensed his muscles, preparing for the inevitable consequence of his rash decision. Underneath his usual façade, he could feel his face burning. Surprisingly a few moments passed without impact, and he dared to let his eyes flutter halfway open, wondering what her reaction would be. However, no sooner had he done so before arms wrapped around his neck and pulled him back towards the green-haired girl next to him. Again their lips met and the static that flowed through the blond on impact caused him to melt into the girl’s arms, wrapping his own around her waist lightly. Her lips were soft and the smell of her shampoo intoxicated Kano.

            The kiss was innocent but tinged with a sense of desperation that Kano was sure came mostly from his side of the interaction and he tilted his head to deepen the kiss. All at once, the blond felt himself lost to anything but the green-haired girl’s movements. It didn’t last very long but her taste caused his thoughts to jumble together.

            One moment he swore he could see his thoughts being painted in blues and purples, deep shades that swirled around each other as if they were stuck in a waltz of their own but the next moment he could feel sparks wherever she touched him.

            As their lips parted, Kano could feel her warm breath was just as shallow as his own as it ghosted across his skin; he slowly opened his eyes, only to be met with the sight of hers half-lidded and her cheeks flushed a bright shade—an image that he couldn’t recall ever having seen before and that caused his emotions to go haywire. After taking a minute to catch his breath, he spoke again but this time the blond kept his voice hushed.

            “Now what?” The words were barely louder than a whisper but in the stillness between the two, they seemed to resonate. The girl only shrugged, eyes still nearly closed and semi-distant. As she sat before him, a stark contrast to her leader self, she looked so vulnerable and open that the sight took Shuuya’s breath away.

            “Do we need to figure that out right now..?” Just as quietly as he’d asked, she responded, tugging lightly at his collar where her hands sat, subtly letting him know of that she was just as selfish as he was and that the conversation was to be put on halt. A wave of relief swept over him and without reasoning through it and further—otherwise he’d overthink it—Shuuya took the hint and brought his lips back to hers, a newfound fire simmering behind the touch. As her lips moved on his, some force drew them together and he moved closer, resting his weight on his elbows while they became more comfortable. Their bodies pressed against each other and the warmth—her warmth—spread through every fiber of his being. At some point, having repositioned to be above her, Shuuya could feel as she greedily drew him closer but he still worried, that he might be resting too much on her frame but as he tried to move away slightly, she carefully wrapped her leg around his and brought him back to where he had been.

            Her grasp on him tightened and in that moment, he couldn’t think of anytime he’d felt safer than he did in the jade-haired girl’s arms right then; time moved slowly as they kissed and before he knew it the two had split apart for breath. He could feel her heartbeat as they sat there and he knew that surely she could feel his heartbeat just as strongly as she pulled him back again to continue the exchange.

            As though he could transfer the feelings to her, Shuuya poured his emotions—ten-years having been bottled up—into the kiss and with every motion, Tsubomi responded with her own. _It was inevitable,_ the air seemed to say, _that they would end up like this,_ and each movement seemed to reaffirm this idea with the naturalness in which it came. Even as they separated for air, they both continued to pull back to the embrace, growing steadily more heated as the temperature of the room rose around them.

            Neither had ever experienced anything like the kisses they shared and for that instant, all of the hardships and trials that had previously scarred their persons dissipated into nothingness—the two broken halves making a perfectly imperfect soul. The longer the two stayed in contact, the hungrier Shuuya found himself becoming; he felt as though her touch alone had fixed some part of himself and that feeling was what caused him to pull away from the kiss.

            His breathing ragged, Shuuya finally pulled away, resting his forehead on the girl’s shoulder and loosening his grasp around her waist. Tsubomi leaned her head back and the blond could feel as she too attempted to regain whatever sense of composure she could. In a way, the scene could be taken as comical (what with the way these two had been together for so long but only now would they truly say they were together) but Shuuya couldn’t bring himself to laugh; instead, he carefully lifted himself slightly—not wanting to burden his companion too much with his weight—and shifted to bury his face in her neck. The passion of the kiss still coursed through his body and he found himself wanting to say the three words that could change everything but the lingering panic was also still there.

            The television droned on quietly still but he knew she’d heard him when he spoke by the way he could feel her tense.

            “Tsubomi?” he inquired softly, “Is it okay for me to say I love you…?” After a short pause, she responded with a weak chuckle, her hand finding its way to softly mess with his hair.

            “Only if it’s alright for me to say it too…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Well, it's late but Happy Holidays/Merry Christmas to everyone who has followed Road Trip up to this point but especially to a good friend of mine who I'd like this to kinda be dedicated to (I guess that's the right word?)
> 
> I apologize first for not having updated for a very long time. I've had an interesting year and I'll just say that I'm glad to see 2016 ending! Secondly, directed to my good friend, thank you very much for being a support through this all and for being a wonderful Kido. I hope to continue to become better so that I don't worry you as much!
> 
> Either way, I hope everyone has/had a wonderful holiday season and hopefully you'll continue to look forward to and support my stories.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This is Rilianne from Fanfiction.net. I'll be posting some of my works from there on here but I may not update as quickly so if you'd like to see more activity, please find me over there! I'm super new to this site and I hope I can write things that all of you will like to read.


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